Orange, Pink, & White Birthday

Mason jar filled with water balloons & water

Beach Scene

My friend/ art partner in crime and I were asked to paint a back drop for a beach scene. The scene was for a fundraising event for a Chicago urban non-profit. The request was to paint sand, water, and sky.  It was my first-ish landscape and diffidently my first painting of that scale (5 panels of 4'x8' + a palm tree).  The collaboration was a blast.  The mutual friend who asked the two of us to paint the backdrop, did all of the props and had the overall big picture.

It was a big undertaking but a blast.  My body still hurts from 9 continual hours of painting (over a week ago), and I'm pretty sure I pulled my hamstring.  There are obvious mistakes such as the water line is supposed to be level all off the way through the painting.  DUH!  Also, the sky shading has much to be desired.   Next time I paint anything of this scale I want two 4-5 hour time block in order for my mind to rest.  Taking a break allows for seeing obvious mistakes like water lines not being level.
Supplies

• Inspiration
• primer
• six 4'x8' foam boards- The boards were primed before us painters jumped in to work which was a huge time saver!!!   
• tempera paint- I have never used this paint before and loved working with it.  It dried a lot slower than acrylic, so we didn't have to worry about our brushes or paint drying mid use.  Also the paint was a little over a dollar a bottle nearly a tenth of the acrylic price.  
• colors bought- yellow, red, deep blue, cerulean blue, green, white, brown, and purple.  These were the base colors.  The rest of the hues and shades were mixed.  
• drop cloths
• buckets for mixing & rinsing brushes
• plastic lids for pallets & mixing
• brushes
• towels for mistakes and messes 
• water for rinsing brushes & thinning paint

Ice-cream Cone Cupcakes? Really?

OLD and Current CRAZE: Cupcakes

Fads can be fun even when cliche.  I jumped on the cupcake fad three years ago when I  did a cupcake tree in place of a wedding cake. The cupcake craze originally stemmed from the sitcom Sex in the City in the scene at Magnolia  Bakery. From what used to be at the occasional children's party are now  EVERYWHERE:  TV. shows, magazines, books, blogs, google image searches, pinterest and even cupcake specific stores.  Cupcakes are a part of nearly ever category of decor including cupcake holder garland.









THE NEW FAD: Ice-cream Cones
Ice-cream cones are amazing. I'm not denying it.  They're everything you could want from taste to color.  Like everything cupcake, Ice-cream cones are also hitting party decor.

The Newest Craze: ICE-CREAM CONE CUPCAKES

It's like we can't say goodbye to the cupcake or maybe hello to the ice-ream cone.  Maybe they're both just too wonderful not to combine.

Ice cream Cone Garland

I'm party planning, and I was inspired by How about Orange to make ice cream cone garland for a birthday party. Being infront of a window, it's hard for me to get a good picture.