upcoming projects w/ a few teasers

So here is a cool fuzzy picture of our ever-changing entry way, taken by the Mouse, via the mirror in front of him, of the wall of albums behind him. Kind of a confusing sentence for something pretty simple. I like the fuzz. I like the image of his 13 year old self taking it. I love all those albums. Do you recognize any? You must! Tell me you do! 

The wall of albums came down shortly after this photo was taken. I had finished a new painting and needed a fairly long wall space for it. But first I need to paint the entry way a chocolate milk color like we have in some of our other rooms. So.... another project :)
Here is a teaser of my new painting. This is actually a departure from my usual scraping and layering of color with spatulas. This is just a small section of it. It's only about a foot high, but it's about 3 feet long. I'm still thinking of what to put up with it. We'll see. 
Still here in the entry way. Love, love, love my coffee table books :) Do you recognize any of these authors? I bet you do. This is my favorite stack of design books but there's another one right next to this one! Yikes!
Moving on..... things are always changing around here! For those of you who were Red Bed lovers and avid supporters of my saga, do you notice anything slightly different? Well, I finally had my mattress lowered. Six inches, to be exact. I have to admit, it took away a tiny bit of the Red Bed's grandeur. But after all the work I put into sanding and painting that doggone headboard, I just had to see it! So I am happy as a lark :) 

And just one more teaser..... a pretty big project is coming up on the opposite wall from my bed. You can't see it now of course, because it's still hideous. I've already taken the "befores", so stay tuned! Hah! 

What a Wonderful World

My dear friend Sue had this waiting for me in my e-mail box this morning. It was just what I needed for this somewhat dreary Monday morning, and I wanted to share it with all of you too. Enjoy!

Prisma-Heaven

Have I mentioned I'm an illustrator? No? Well, I'm not exactly famous or anything. Have I published anything you'd recognize? Well, no. Have I published anything at all? Um, no. But I'm still an illustrator. And a mighty good one too. I can draw stick figures like you'd never believe. The most life-like stick figures you've ever seen. I mean seriously. They're awesome.

So this was my big art project today. I had recently received a set of 156 Prismacolor markers, and I needed to unpack everything, snap the holder together (can I just say that it was a LOT harder than it looks!), and put all my gorgeous new colors into their snug little homes. Ah, have you ever seen so many lovely colors at the same time? I could stare at them all day. Happiness in tubes :)
I have to admit, I have never - ever - seen so many fleshy tones, and shades of warm and cool grays in my entire life. I had absolutely no idea that many shades of gray were even possible. And the French must have invented gray, because half of them are assorted "French grays". Personally, gray doesn't come to mind when I think of anything French. But that's just me. And the only reason I even bring that up is because secretly I'm jealous of the person who gets to name all the colors. I want that job.  
Wow, just look at all those colors, standing there at attention like soldiers, always at the ready. The possibilities are endless! 

Now, I can see how some of you might be thinking "why in heaven's name would she need 156 markers on steroids when all she does is draw stick figures?". Well, you just never KNOW, do you. You just never know what inspiration I might have that requires 8 or 108 colors all of the sudden. Being an illustrator, I would know these things. 

Besides. As soon as the U-Haul delivers all the markers over to my desk, and I install the alarm to keep curious gooey hands away, I plan on writing a little book about my dog Angel. She has a constantly wagging tail. One of these days, we're sure she's going to just take right off like a helicopter. 

Oh yes, I definitely need all 156 colors :)

Valentine Notecard Sets!

VALENTINE EYE CANDY!!!

***2012 UPDATE - Yes, I still sell my Valentine notecards AND Valentine 5x7's and 8x10's!

This post is to whet your appetite a little, hehe :) Click on the pics to see more detail,

and also visit my "Valentine Notecard Sets" blog post to see notecard sets together.

$20.00 for a set of eight (8) notecards - 4x6 photos on a white, 5x7 cardstock card

$10.00 for a quality 5x7 photo print on photo paper, suitable for framing

$15.00 for a quality 8x10 print on photo paper, suitable for framing

*you can also see a variety of my Valentine photos on my Zagg portfolio -

turn my photos into skins for your gadgets: cell phones, laptops, iPads, etc.

Click on my GUMBALL photo at the top right of my blog and it will take you there :) 

Set #1

Set #2

Set #3

If you're interested, just leave me a note here, find me on Facebook, talk to me in person,

trip me at church, or send me an email at megibug (at) gmail (dot) com

Happy Happy!!!

Warm Thoughts

I have some really dear friends and loved ones living through some f-f-freezing temperatures right now. Some of those temperatures are pretty scary actually. I want to let them know that I am thinking warm thoughts for them - and that spring really will come. When I took this photo the other day, the first thing I thought of was sunshine (okay - that and a fried egg). So here's a little sunshine for them today, by way of the California poppy on my front porch :)

Gourmet Day

So on Saturday the Mouse tells me he and a few friends wanted to make some chicken wings and a few things to go with them. Okay, I say. I give him some money and figure he'd be buying a bag of buffalo wings to cook in the oven, and some Ranch dressing to dip them in. 
Quite some time later, my lovely Saturday afternoon snooze is interrupted by the sound of boys in the kitchen, opening and closing things, asking each other poignant questions about which knives are sharpest, and general banging around. I enter the kitchen to find the Mouse elbow deep in 3lbs. of raw chicken wings from Whole Foods. He is cutting them and preparing them to cook in the spicy sauce he got. Let it be known, I have NEVER cut raw chicken wings, let alone TOUCHED raw chicken wings, let alone EATEN chicken wings! This boy is unstoppable.
So I cruise on over to where Jeff and Tom are busily chopping gorgeous, massive portobello mushrooms, jalapenos, onions, and garlic. Portobellos! They are spot on and doing a great job. They even have a tray of shrimp to cook in butter and garlic as a side dish as well! Shrimp? Are you kidding me? Go Tom and Jeff!
Love this picture of them talking to each other and washing their hands :) They all got an A+ for cleanliness. I'm glad you can't see how dirty my kitchen floor is. I would not get an A+ for cleanliness.
As the Mouse's wings cook, Tom is sprinkling in his bread crumbs to add to his portobello side dish. 
The wings are finally cooked all the way through, so in goes the spicy barbecue sauce.
After much labor, here are our 13-year-old gourmet cooks, proudly showing off their finished dishes. The food was soon gone, and they even had that fancy root beer that comes in glass bottles to wash it all down with. 

I have to admit, they made a totally impressive gourmet meal! I mean, come on - when I was their age I think was still eating cereal and watching Saturday morning cartoons ;)

the month of WUV

This is one of my all time favorite things from Matthew - I have it hanging up all year because I adore it so much. He was probably about 6 when he made this in school. His precious drawing really says it all, but if you can't read the words they say:

Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day I can't wat! 

Cus I'm gowing to love my parins 

as muck as I can. 

You or spos to love ech uthir as much. 

Valentine's is my fafrit holuday.

Oh, that Mouse....... he just does me in :)