praying for Alabama...

Praying for those in Alabama and everywhere else the terrible tornadoes created destruction yesterday.

xoxo,

Caroline

score!

sooooooo excited that I scored this recently!

Was in Marshall's looking for an inexpensive, light weight lamp 

for my booth at Surtex and found this instead. 

Tall wired branches, easily movable and with clear crystal flowers on each tip.

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove it!

It goes so well with all of my bird designs and nature elements. 

It's battery powered too and I plan to cut my patterned designed papers in leaf shapes 

to accentuate the branches....

what do you think?

Can't wait to show you so many other peeks of what's happening in this studio.

It's swirling with activity!

Just wait 'til you see the booth I have designed for Surtex this year!
If you are in NYC March 15th-17th...please do come see me HERE!

Here's the peek at my promo piece...
as you can tell I have been painting sooooooo many
new collections for this show.
Current clients have needed art too so it's been super busy!

Can't wait...just hope I can get it all ready!
Oh yeah, I also am working on so many original pieces of art...
Don't forget to mark your calendar for May 5th!
It's the Carolina Art Soiree here in Charlotte!

If you love art ...pleeeeeeeease come to this...it's for a great cause
(read here about my dear friend Hannah who started this!)
I am so thrilled and honored to be HERE among the 28 artists exhibiting at this fabulous event!
I will try to give you a peek at some of my 20 originals which will be there
but you'll have to attend to see them all up close.

Lord, please multiply my time so that it may be fruitful for all and glorify you....

xoxo,

Caroline

Ocean Life Art

If you are looking for a fun summer beach project for your kidos,

we did this one recently at the beach and they turned out so cute!

Honestly they had enough sand and sun for the day and wanted to do a craft 

but I only had my sketchbook and a few paints and brushes. 

Thanks to my parent's scissors, stapler and some bubble wrap in the storage room

we had the supplies we needed to make some puffy sea creatures.

Start by stacking two sheets of thick paper together...

I just had sketchbook paper but white card stock paper would work well. 

Then flip one over so they can paint each side so that when you put them together 

back to back they will match up again.

Like this...

We just used acrylic paints...

 

After the pieces are all dry, start stapling at one side and 

begin stuffing paper towels into the center.

Staple all the way around and then... 

if you are making a sea creature with tentacles or legs

I suggest cutting bubble wrap into strips like this.

Or if you are making a crab you can just stuff the center and staple the legs on...

super cute, hu?

we just stuffed the mermaid bodies and heads...not the arms or hair curls.

No rules or templates....just have fun and be creative!

Next time they want to do a dolphin and a shark.

What would you make?

xoxo,

Caroline

Tervis and Love the Earth Day!

Because I have ordered Tervis tumblers throughout the years,

I am on their e-mail list and receive regular e-mails and promotions from them. 

It was pretty exciting to get this one this week for Earth Day!

They chose my LOVE THE EARTH tumbler as their feature for 2011 Earth Day.

Woo-hoo!

You can see the entire promotion HERE.

And you can order them HERE!

Fill them with candy or gift cards for Teacher gifts, Mother's Day or Father's Day!

the week away

I hope you all had a glorious Easter!

I confess to "pre-blogging" the last several days and just scheduled the posts to be sent 

while I was away all week with my family for spring break on Edisto Island.

It was bliss to play in the sand and surf and be away from the hustle and bustle, 

even though it was difficult at times to stop mentally and physically preparing for Surtex.

We ended our week with the 6:30 sunrise service right on the beach.

Doesn't get any better than that.

Quite the variety of pastors spoke and folks sang 

as many locals and visitors showed up to celebrate Christ's resurrection. 

Despite the casual attire ...t-shirts and flip flops worn by most...

people were ready and awake 

for this special occasion and we watched the sun rise together.

You know I could not stay completely away from art while away, 

so the girls and I created a few fun shell images on the beach.

SO MUCH FUN!!!

oh how we love rainbows...

but I think my favorite part of this picture is their footprints in the sand. 

Charlotte was the trooper with her cast on and thanks to this Dry Pro cast cover

she enjoyed digging in the sand, playing in the ocean and even swimming in the pool!

Oh yeah, and showering!

And I promise to share this fun craft soon that we did one afternoon....

 

A few more highlights from the week...

my poor parents could hardly use their new ipad...

This was the hot thing to play...

create your own pottery and then you get to auction it off.

Such a cool app.

Sarah Grace found this star fish and was soooo excited.

This friendly pelican followed us on our sunset cruise after we fed the seagulls their bread...

think he must have thought hoped we had shrimp or fish.

He came amazingly close to our boat....such a beautiful creature.

We had some of the last local oysters of the season!

The kids have learned how to catch the crabs, cook them, clean them and eat them!

Hands on learning courtesy of the amazing grandparents.

 just looooove this blue!

William actually was pinched by this fella before he was cooked 

so William decided to get him back!

a boat trip by a few and car trip by a few to Beaufort, SC for the day 

and a bit of shopping and lunch.

Charlotte found this gigantic clam shell which we washed 

and used for mixed nuts during appetizer time.

Garlic shrimp and linguini....mmmmmmm.

egg dying was super fun

but the best view for color is always from the upper porch...

because....

God paints a different sunset every night.

If you want to see the set of the crazy number of pictures we took, click here.

What did you do for Easter weekend or spring break?

Would love to hear from you.

xoxo,

Caroline

Lent Crosses

There certainly are many images for Lent crosses on the world wide web here

 but my friend Lauren came up with the most beautiful and simple one I have ever seen.

You can do this with your kids..I did, and they loved it.

Step #1

Take a walk together in your back yard and look for twigs/sticks.

Step #2 

Talk about God's amazing gift to us...sending His only son, Jesus 

to die on the cross for our sins.

Step #3 

Tie two twigs/sticks together with either raffia or wire. 

Step #4 

Display the cross somewhere all year so that His gift is always seen in your home.

You can talk about it and ponder His grace every day.
To grasp what Jesus was doing on Good Friday...read my friend Tara's stirring post here.

Have a blessed Easter!

Christ is risen!

xoxo,

Caroline

oyster bed

It's hard to believe but this oyster bed here at Edisto dates back to Abraham!

Yep, layers and layers of oyster shells shucked and piled here.

This low country spot is one of our favorites on the island. 

We are blessed to be able to look across to it from our back porches and it will never be developed.

Amazing bike trails to it also...

If you ever find yourself near Edisto Island, you'll want to visit this amazing treasure.
As we approach Easter, our savior's resurrection...
 it reminds me that this place is yet another reason to thank God
for this amazing earth on which we live.

xoxo,

Caroline