Pink rose painting

This was a Christmas gift for my wonderful Grandmother who loves pink homegrown roses! It is an 11"x14" modeling paste and acrylic painting on Belgian linen canvas board. Pin It

Baby Announcements

Congrats to my friends, Brent and Emily, for the birth of their beautiful new baby girl, Amy Grace Shepherd! Here is the announcement I designed for them using a green and brown color scheme. I hope they like it! Pin It

Cheap and pretty Christmas wrapping

I used a roll of red dollar store gift wrap and this site to print out free wrapping paper on some scraps I had. I recycled the bows from other gifts/holidays and the presents ended up matching Kelly's 'black, red and silver themed tree.' And yes...we have two trees. Pin It

Shake it like a polaroid picture!

Talk about my cure for boredom. This awesome (and free) software allows you to drag and drop your own digital photos and watch as they magically turn into old school (looking) polaroid pictures! They even slowly expose on your desktop like the real thing. This was a lot of fun but it is also sad to me that many different kinds of polaroid film are discontinued, including what I used for these. The two photos above are ones I have taken in the past but they definitely have a different personality after being 'poladroided' with strange colors. Gotta love it! Pin It

Jupiter, Venus and the Moon

This isn't the greatest picture but I took it out my car window last night as I was driving home. This is the crescent moon with Venus and Jupiter, lower right. They are the 3 brightest objects in the night sky and won't be as close as they were this week again until 2052. Monday night they were at their closest but it was too cloudy for me to witness. It's pretty cool to look up once in a while. Pin It

River stone doormat

This is a project I have worked on here and there for a couple weeks. I was inspired by this much pricier version for sale online and thought I could make it myself. Turns out it was pretty easy but the downside was being exposed to some strong super glue fumes. I used a $2 mat, rocks and all-purpose super glue from the dollar store. The final product weighs about 22 lbs and cost me less than $20. It looks better than I expected and feels great underfoot. Pin It

Thanksgiving table setting

This year I am really looking forward to the holidays more than usual. I especially can't wait to see my whole family and eat some great food. We are having Thanksgiving at my parent's house this year for the first time. We usually travel to Columbus, Georgia to my Aunt's house but we are switching it up. I helped my mom design a festive table setting for the holiday. We used linens and candlesticks she already had and added a table runner made of inexpensive fabric and a centerpiece of pumpkins, squash, sunflowers and leaves from my yard. Pin It

Happy Thanksgiving!

I made these turkey cupcakes for my sweet nieces this weekend! Yum! Pin It

WAR EAGLE ANYWAY!

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Glory days

Dusty had surgery yesterday to remove a lipoma (benign fatty tumor) and is fine but is feeling a little rough today. I thought I would post this picture in his honor while he is recovering. This photo was taken at Conway Acres in Auburn when he was much younger. This was one of his favorite places to play and also where he learned to swim. I would say he is about 2 or 3 years old in this photograph. Feel better bud! Pin It

Chicken Saltimbocca

This weekend I finally had some time to make an Italian dish I've been wanting to try. This is chicken saltimbocca with angel hair pasta. It was in no way a quick dinner but I think it turned out good and was definitely something new to us. Joel was my guinea pig and I don't think he minded. Below is the recipe if anyone is curious and so I will always have it. For chicken:

• Start with (3) chicken breasts or cutlets pounded flat
• Rub chicken on one side with herb mixture (chopped sage, basil, oregano, parsley, chives, minced garlic, butter)
• Layer a few thin slices of prosciutto over mixture then top with just a little shaved parmesan cheese
• Start from the small end and roll flattened piece of chicken then secure with toothpicks
• Season rolls with salt and pepper and then saute them with olive oil over medium high heat for 2 minutes on each side.
• Add a cup of chicken stock to pan then cover and transfer to oven for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees
• When done, remove toothpicks from chicken and slice into 1 inch pieces

For the pasta sauce:

• Saute 1/4 a cup of chopped shallots in a tablespoon of butter
• Add a 1/2 cup of cream and salt and pepper
• Add chopped basil leaf to taste
• Add 2 cups petite diced tomatoes and reduce
• Toss with cooked angel hair pasta and serve immediately topped with parmesan

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Fall

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Halloween costume

This is my best Edie Sedgwick impersonation. She was a 60's icon and Andy Warhol's muse. If you don't know what she looks like - google her! It was fun and one person even knew who I was supposed to be! haha! Pin It

Caddie painting

I painted this for a wonderful friend. It's a 20"x 25" acrylic portrait of her sweet Boston terrier, Caddie! I hope she likes it. Happy Halloween!!! Pin It

Weekend update

Joel broke in his new place this weekend by having a cookout on Saturday. We played ladder golf, watched football on a tv set up outside, and played with Dusty. We ate chicken and sausage kabobs, ribs, hot dogs, chips and rotel dip and brownies! Later, the girls and I drove out to the Atrox Factory in Leeds and went through the haunted house. I got to meet Linda Blair who played the lead role in The Exorcist. It was a fun evening! Pin It

White camellia

With Spring and Summer's blooms long gone and the leaves on their way to turning, it is nice to see something beginning to bloom with the first cold snap. The camellia bush in our front yard is gorgeous and a welcome sight. It's our state flower but is originally from China! Goldenrod used to be Alabama's flower but many people considered it little more than a weed so the camellia was later adopted. I think they are both beautiful. Pin It

Sweet Malea

I love this pic of Malea and hand-tinted it in Photoshop. She's a pretty princess! Pin It

I LOVE Halloween!

Yesterday was perfect for carving a pumpkin outside. It was definitely fall weather and a little chilly. Joel and I made this Nightmare before Christmas-looking jack-o'-lantern and I love how it looks all lit up at night. I just hope it lasts for more than a day or two. Can't wait for HALLOWEEN!!! Pin It

Goldenrod and purple wildflowers

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What's better than this?

Destin, Florida on my birthday with my BEST friends! Pin It

Strange and beautiful

I have no idea what type of wildflower these are but I thought they were strange and beautiful. I spotted them on my street yesterday when the afternoon light was just right. Pin It

Mosaic of Me

1. Jessica(s), 2. Shrimp Scampi, 3. Pending Doom, 4. __IR_Cachoeira__, 5. Untitled, 6. wham:a different corner, 7. African Lioness carrying 22-24 day old cub Kalahari Gemsbok National Park South Africa, 8. coffee and chocolate mousse cake, 9. The Earth is God's Canvas., 10. Am I K in your book?, 11. Blue ice adventure, 12. R-G-B

I saw this Mosaic of Me on another blog, The Scoop and I thought it might be a fun little visual project for me to try...

So, here's the deal... you answer the following 12 questions about yourself (my answers are in parentheses after each question):

1. What is your first name? (jessica)

2. What is your favorite food? (shrimp)

3. What high school did you attend? (hoover high school)

4. What is your favorite color? (blue)

5. Who is your celebrity crush? (ryan gosling)

6. Favorite drink? (water)

7. Dream vacation? (south africa)

8. Favorite dessert? (chocolate)

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (happy)

10. What do you love most in life? (creativity)

11. One word to describe you? (adventurous)

12. Your Flickr name? (none - don't have one!)

Wanna play?: Type your answer to each of the above questions into Flickr's search. Using only the images that appear on the first page, choose your favorite and copy and paste each of the URL’s into the Mosaic Maker (3 columns, 4 rows)... Enjoy!

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Happy Birthday Jiji!

Malea is in town to help celebrate Jiji's birthday. We ate mexican at Amigos and then loitered outside for a while! Pin It

War Eagle!

Tailgating at the LSU game. FUN DAY! Pin It

Polaroid emulsion lifts

Ok...so my camera is broken and I am very upset that I had to send it off to Illinois today to (hopefully) get it repaired. This might be bad for the old blog. I am gonna try to keep this updated even if I have to use the (dreaded) camera phone. In the meantime, I thought I would share my favorite photographic technique with you. These little pieces of art are achieved by taking a Polaroid photo (has to be the 669 film pack) and dropping it into boiling water until the top emulsion layer floats off the backing. Once the top layer is loose, it can be transferred and manipulated to a new surface like watercolor paper! Looks and feels kind of like a jellyfish at this stage. The first one of Dusty is actually 2 different photos placed side by side. The angel was a statue in a neighbor's yard. I love the look of these and how hands-on the process is...such a nice change from Photoshop. The Auburn Art Association actually bought one of these (a hibiscus flower) from me for their permanent works on paper collection! Pin It

LOVE this place!

I just thought I would share this photo of my favorite Mexican restaurant, The Iguana. It is pretty random but I just love the way it is decorated and the atmosphere there. I want some of these beautiful lanterns! If you haven't been - go check it out and get the shrimp fajita quesadilla! Pin It

Funny pet portrait

I painted this just for fun a while ago. It is a friend's basset hound. I really like this pen and ink with watercolor style and hope to do more of it soon. Pin It

Britton Hill: Florida's highpoint

Joel and I are on a quest to get to the highest point in all 50 states. We started with the easiest one this weekend - Florida! We were on our way back from Destin and stopped at Britton Hill, right off 331 before you cross into Alabama. I couldn't stop laughing as we signed the summit registry. In the photo above you can see Joel's car and the 30 yards we had to 'hike' to get to the highpoint - hilarious! Anyway, one down, 49 to go! Pin It