Posts Tagged: "artist"

Buddha Board Enso Infinite Art

Queen Darlene - April 25, 2019 - Birthday, Business, Christmas, Father's Day, Get Well, Kids, Mother's Day, Retirement

It’s rare to come across something that you’ve never seen before or experienced anything like it. The Buddha Board Enso definitely caught my eye!

Imagine drawing, painting and writing on a board with a water brush and creating images with a rich, inky Japanese look. As the water slowly evaporates, your art will magically disappear allowing you to create a whole new masterpiece.

My BFF, Linda, and I met in 1976 and are complete opposites. She is quiet. I’m loud. She loves to read. I love to dance. She enjoys museums. I enjoy snow skiing. Get the picture?

Create Your Own Comic Book

Princess Diana - December 26, 2018 - Birthday, Christmas, Kids

One of the most wonderful things you can do for any child is to nurture their creativity and allow them to create.

Superheroes and their incredible powers make us imagine what could be possible IF…

Many children and teenagers are obsessed with Marvel and DC comics and superheroes. They read the comic books and/or watch the movies.

But what if they could come up with their OWN superhero? Or villain? What would it look like and what are his or her supernatural powers?

Unique Knitted Metal Jewelry

Queen Darlene - June 27, 2018 - Anniversary, Birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Teacher Gifts, Valentine's Day

My grandmother knitted throughout her lifetime. She tried to teach me, but I never really showed much interest.

Oh, how I wished I had learned because you never know when old skills can turn into new talent.

This past Mother’s Day weekend, my husband, Randy, and I attended an arts festival in our community. Over the years, we have purchased art, prints, pottery, jewelry and leather goods at this event.

Since we no longer need stuff to hang on the walls or decorate shelves, I’ve become interested in jewelry made by artists. Randy likes to look for unusual artistic designs on leather belts.

Arts festivals are wonderful places to have the opportunity to speak with artists face-to-face. To me, this makes the art more personal.

I’m always on the lookout for jewelry that is different when I spotted a booth by artist Susan Baile of Spiritus Designs.

I ooohed and awed over her necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. I asked her, “What are these made of?” Susan replied, “Metals and I knit them.”

Well… that really piqued my interest!

She went on to say she started knitting at the age of 11. When Susan retired, she wanted to do something to keep her busy. Since she loved to knit, she found a way to knit metals into jewelry.

Unique Custom Painted Shoes

Princess Diana - April 25, 2018 - Birthday, Christmas, Gifts for Me, Graduation, Kids, Retirement

Do you have Hamilton fever? I haven’t seen the musical yet, but I’m obsessed with the soundtrack.

I have my niece, J’menii, to thank for getting me hooked on Hamilton.

This same young lady has a thing for Converse sneakers. I’m not exaggerating when I say she has more than 10 pairs of Converse shoes in her closet. All colors. The girl even wore a pair with her formal dress to high school prom!

J’menii is graduating from high school this year so I decided on a graduation gift that combined her two obsessions and I ended up with Hamilton-themed Custom Painted Converse Shoes!

Custom Hand Painted Shoes

For the shoes, I had an artist paint them gold and black with a couple of logos. Then I had the artist paint phrases from the musical to inspire my niece to kick butt in college and to achieve her goals in life!

The outside right shoe features the Hamilton logo with the words “I’m not throwing away my shot.” The outside left shoe features a silhouette of the Schuyler sisters with the words “Rise Up.”

The inside left shoe reads, “There’s a million things I haven’t done.” The inside right shoe reads “Just you wait…”

Caricatures Make Fun Birthday Party Favors

Princess Diana - August 11, 2015 - Birthday, Kids, Party Favors

When planning my son’s second birthday party, I knew there would be more adults than kids at the event. Kids don’t really have BFFs at that age.

So I needed something to make the party fun for both adults AND kids.

I first met Hector Lopez at the Oklahoma City Thunder Fan Appreciation Night when he drew a caricature of my son and me in less than five minutes. He’s that good!

caricature-birthday-party-favor2-thoughtful-gift-idea

Caricature drawings make for great entertainment and one-of-a-kind birthday party favors!

Queen Darlene saw the drawing hanging up behind my desk at the office and thought it would be a great idea to hire Hector for our agency’s employee picnic.

She’s got great instincts that one!

Our co-workers loved getting their caricatures done! Afterwards, walking through our building you could see caricatures everywhere since people proudly hung up their drawings inside their office or cubicle.

Perfect, I thought! I’ll hire Hector the caricature artist to provide the entertainment and party favors at my son’s birthday party. Continue Reading

Painting of Childhood Home Brings to Life Cherished Memories

Princess Diana - August 7, 2014 - Birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, Mother's Day

I bet you can remember in great detail your childhood home.

For me, I still remember the wallpaper design in each room. The texture of our brown couch where I spent hours reading my Nancy Drew novels. The large crack that ran across the width of my bedroom door for which I have my younger brother and a very sturdy chair to thank for creating.

Every time one of my siblings visits our hometown of Enid, Oklahoma, we always drive by our childhood home. It’s a magnet that draws us.

With one look at that two-story beige house with its wide front porch, the flood gates open to our childhood memories. We see the windows but what we’re really seeing are the many family events that took place behind those windows.