More Brown & Pink...

love is a gift...

now in the

LoVE BoxeS SHoP

Chicks & Angels...

I just can't seem to take the Easter down. Easter colors are my colors. I just love them.

Horton Hears A Who...

We went to see this last night. It was really darling I thought. The the kids all loved it. I was impressed; I wasn't sure they could make a movie out of that little book, but they did. I've always loved this book too and so I was hoping it would succeed. What a great message it has. I hope the other really great Horton book will be a movie sometime.

Then we went to Noodles for our last Hoorah.. my brother and his darling Jenni and their 4 kids leave this afternoon for home. I'm afraid that all the kids are going to melt into a puddle of tears (especially my little c) when they wake up this morning. It's been a great week, they just adore each other. Cousins, COusins, COUSINS!! has been the rousing shout around here.

Here we are at mid-week. I hope you've been having a good one too!

WII Bowl Off...

What a fun night we had last night and I have not one single photo to prove it... but, we did. There was a caterpillar and a dragon on the swings in my sister's yard having a great time together. Thomas the train made a lot of appearances along with Percy and Big City Engine. The caterpillar had a WII bowl off with all of his cousins and won every game but the last... (the caterpillar was getting a little tired). But, his bowling was amazing all night.. spare.. strike.. spare. The big cousins (and C began studying his technique). The big cousins had formed a super-hero group and were fighting off the evil Zadak with Karate Chops which was really a good thing. I should have been out there with them because I couldn't help but snag an extra slice of Extreme Veggie Pizza from The Pie (mmmmmmmmmm.. it's my favorite). In addition to the lovely yellow room that I've shown you before.. my sisters house has a few other things I love.. an amazing view of the sunset and a fridge that dispenses crushed ice. I do wish that I had just one shot of the caterpillar and the dragon. It was an Alice In Wonderland evening for sure. :)

Roger Muhl 2...

beautiful...

Roger Muhl...

Sadly, the prolific French painter Roger Muhl passed away earlier this month. He leaves behind a large body of beautiful work. It is tragic there won't be more.

Morning Light Bouquet...

Several requests have been made for Mother's Day appropriate items.

Of course I will be painting some Mother's Day Love Boxes.. but I thought some new photographic note cards would be nice as well. There are a couple of sets available in the shop now (there are also a few sets of the Temple Square series still available). Also, an 8X10 art print similar to this one is in the shop and ready to be framed for Mother's Day. No watermarks will show on purchased photos. Also, a note on the art print.. the image had to be shrunk to fit Etsy.. but every pixel will be there in all it's undistorted glory in your mailbox.

ThE LoVe BOxeS SHoP

Lollipopworkshop...

Oh how I adore these little

Lollipop Workshop

dolls... aren't they cute!?!

Jenny is a former pastry chef and her little dollies are complete confection!

I thought I'd let you know.. she's having a shop update today! Hooray!

The Wedding...

I didn't get a very good photo.. so I hope the real photog did better than I did... but this is the lovely bride and handsome groom at their wedding luncheon.. which was lovely and delish!
Cake.. I hope I get to try some today..
Flowers everywhere.. They were so pretty. I loved the Sweet Peas and the Baby Hyacinth and the Hydrangea and all the big pink roses.. It smelled heavenly..
I didn't get a great shot of this either.. but you get the idea. This was the center piece for the dessert table which was really fun. I tried the Sting of the Bee Cake and was it ever fabulous. Yum!
More pretty flowers.. So this gives you an idea anyway. We had a great day and are all so happy for Alicia. She's a wonderful girl.. now married to a fabulous guy! Congratulations!

Angel Without Wings..

This little doll came without the holes to make her angel wings.. but I painted her anyway and thought she looked lovely... so she is a little angel, it's just that her wings don't show. You know people like that. Right? :)
I do. And, you must know who you are.
Please excuse me today. My sister is getting married. I will be back tomorrow with lots of fun photos.. I hope. :)

Welcome to my sister's home...

She's been decorating.
First she made sure the room had good bones by adding mouldings and trim and then color and light.
And then, she added good anchor pieces. (The art and other minor pieces are still to come. I'll have to take another photo sometime. But, the hard work is done. )Just like it says to do in my favorite decorating book by my favorite decorator..
who also always thinks there should at least be a little yellow in every room.
I think she'd like this one.

Fairies or Angels..

I never know exactly what to call them. I like the idea of both fairies and angels. I was happy with how this little blue one turned out. However, the photo doesn't show all the sparkly glitter in her dress... but it's there. I was trying to paint red hair yesterday. I wanted it to turn out like my friend Ruby's hair.. but no dice. I will have to keep working on red. I just love red hair. :) Anyway, there are more fairies, or angels in the shop..

Angels...

These angels will have their wings in the morning and will take flight to..

THe Love BoXes Shop

Sorry I missed visiting you all today. It was a crazy day.. but I did get some painting done this afternoon.. so that was good. I hope I will be by to visit everyone tomorrow.

In parting.. I just want to share a quote that was so kindly sent to me today by my friend Katherine..

“Nothing splendid was ever achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside was superior to circumstances.” Bruce Barton

Don't you love that?

Book Club...

Circe and Liz mentioned this book to me yesterday. And, by the way, thanks for all the great recommendations. My cue at the library is loaded up with great books on tape coming my way. I'm so thrilled.

Anywho, Peace Like A River is one of my favorite books. Leif Enger does a fantastic job of making his readers put themselves in some fairly complicated moral dilemmas. C and I both read this book. When I mentioned the recommendations to C.. we were immediately embroiled in a 2 hour discussion. This book is simply fascinating.

We began by discussing whether or not this book is a Western. I thought yes (my opinion was discounted based on the fact that I've read all of 1.5 westerns in my life.. my argument that I've seen lots of Western films.. flopped in the sagebrush). C says that this book is more a foil of the traditional Western. And, he made some good arguments for that. I don't want to give the story away though.

Our discussion then moved from bullying, to criminal law, to gun laws, ethics, to moral reasoning, to what it takes to feel safe, to jury duty ... to I don't even know.. but my brain was going a hundred miles an hour and it was difficult to sleep.

So, I am going to re-read this one. I've ordered my copy from the library and should have it Monday. Would anyone like to join me for a blog book club on this book? Say, Yes! :)

The way I want to do it is.. I will post my review in 3 weeks. And, I will post some questions. If you read the book and want to write your own review.. I will link from my review to yours. If you don't want to write a full review.. you can just leave a comment on the post or you can answer one of the questions either on the post or, I will link to your blog and you can answer it there. How's that?

I will post my review 3 weeks from today. :)

Two New Birdies in the SHoP...

I meant to make some bluebirds on a pink background.. but since c and I are trying to get through all the Harry Potter tapes together.. I had little owls on the brain. We googled photos of pygmy owls and had a great time trying to re-create them as we listened to those tapes last night. This is my attempt. c was sidetracked and didn't finish hers.. but if she does I'll show you.
Also.. a little help.. I really must have books to read or go simply nuts. Thanks to Miss Toothsome and to Circ I was able to order up a few from the library this morning, but those books will have to wait while someone else finishes reading them (please hurry someone else). Can you give me the names of some books that might be available on tape through the library that I might enjoy? I can only take so much NPR.. plus they are running their fund drive right now.. so you know how that is. Michelle.. I'm counting on you here. Anyone? Anyone? :)

The above boxes have already been listed in:

THe Love BoXes SHoP

Belia Bluebird...

Did you know that she could jump rope? I didn't. I thought she could only pose for just a second before she flew off with a million things to do.. see you later.. But no, she can take a break for just a second and have some fun. Bluebirds are very busy you know. Have you ever watched one. Wow! They have a lot to do in a day. I love this quote about them...

"If bluebirds were people, they would be respected citizens who raise their families with exemplary devotion, lead productive lives, and contribute generously to charities. And they would surely be featured soloists in church choirs on Sunday mornings!"

Steve Groom & Dick Peterson.. Bluebirds 1991

I'm hoping to have Belia finished and in

THe LOve BoXes SHoP

tomorrow.. Have a Happy Day!

Huxian Folk Art...

I haven't posted a favorite Chinese Folk Art painting recently. I'm tempted to buy this one of children catching butterflies.. so cute.

See it here. .. and more here

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins...

I had to hurry and take this photo because these disappear pretty fast.

This is one of my favorite recipes from the family cookbook that my sister-in-law Jenni put together. I use her cookbooks more than any other because even though she herself is a fantastic gourmet and can make anything.. she includes for us simple never fail recipes that taste the best and are always everyone's favorites...

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups flour

1/2 t. salt

3 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

2T orange juice or other acidic juice

3 mashed bananas

1 cup chocolate chips

Cream sugar, eggs and butter. Add dry ingred. and orange juice. Mix and add bananas. Add choc. chips last. Put into greased muffin pan (or use cup cake liners) and bake at 350 degrees for 20 min.

**You may need to bake them a bit longer but do a toothpick test at 20 min. You don't want to over cook these. Also when they cool, get them right into a container so they don't dry out. Also, they freeze pretty well.

*Note: You can use 1/2 cup applesauce instead of butter for a lower fat muffin and you can omit the chocolate chips if desired.

More Snow...

Spring is having a difficult time coming I guess. This was taken yesterday morning. I really don't mind too much because the sky in Utah is so stunning after rain or snow and the weather I truly hate is inversion. I can't take a decent picture in inversion to save my life. Who wants a gray/brown sky. We seriously need to do something about that. I was thinking maybe we could build a giant air purifier? ... just an idea.

I once wanted to choose a paint chip because it was called Utah Sky and it was just that blue on the right of this photo. I admit that the paint chip names sway my opinion. However, I ended up with true blue which bugs me so much I'm going to have to re-name it, although it truly is a lovely blue. When I went shopping with my sister to find paint chips for her new yellow room.. we narrowed it to daffodil and sundance... Now she can say that her room is painted in sundance yellow.. lovely.

Yesterday was frustrating. I accomplished almost nothing. OK I accomplished things that did not include painting. So, today I am going to plow through the laundry and give C a haircut and paint and paint.. I hope. And, I hope that you get to do something you really love too. :)

Beautiful Brynn's Blueberry Lemon Bars...

I knew you would all want this recipe. And, I asked Brynn if I could post it here and she sent it to me today! Hooray! If you make this recipe.. you will love me forever.. and Brynn too since she doctored this recipe up so that it's super yum! I only wish I had a photo for you beacause they are elegant. Brynn made these for my sister's bridal shower that has been so talked over lately. :)

Crust:2 cups all-purpose flour1/2 cup sugar1 tbsp lemon zest (I doubled this and used 2 tbsp for a more lemony flavor)

3/4 cup butter, chilled and cut into chunks
Filling:1 1/2 cups sugar1/3 cup fresh lemon juice1/4 cup all-purpose flour1/4 tsp salt

4 large eggs1 tbsp lemon zest(I doubled this and used 2 tbsp for a more lemony flavor)1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh and rinsed or frozen
1 ½ baking bars of the Ghirardelli White Chocolate

Preheat oven to 350F. To make the crust, combine flour, sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of a food processor (or a large mixing bowl, if you prefer to work by hand). Pulse in butter (or rub in with fingertips) until butter is well distributed and the mixture resembles moist sand. Pour into a 9×13-inch (make sure you spray the pan with Pam or some other non-sticking agent) baking dish and spread evenly. Press down to create a firm, even layer.Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
While crust is cooking, prepare the filling. Combine all filling ingredients (add blueberries last) in a large bowl and stir together until smooth When crust is done, pour filling into hot pan and return to oven.Bake for about 17-20 minutes, until filling is set. Edges may be lightly browned, depending on the pan.
Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Use a slightly damp knife to cut through the bars. Once you have cut them into squares, dust them lightly with powdered sugar. Take 1 and ½ baking bars of the Ghirardelli White Chocolate baking bars and melt the chocolate according to the instructions on the package. (I melted it in the microwave, stirring frequently and that works fine) Once chocolate is melted dip a fork into the chocolate and spread the chocolate in thin lines across each bar. In other words, the chocolate is not to be used like frosting just as a pretty garnish across the bar. You don't have to cut them up into individual squares if you don't want to but I think they look prettier if you dress each one with chocolate individually because then you can also cover the sides with white chocolate as well.