Picture to Portrait

LDS Temple Calendar

2011-11-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

I will be selling the LDS Temple painting calendars again this year. Here are some examples of what they look like.

For a LIMITED time:

The calendars are $14 each. Plus $3.50 for shipping.

**Special Offer** TWO calendars for $22

on any orders placed by December 5th

The temples that are included in the 12 month calendar are as follows:

January - San Diego, California

February - Nauvoo, Illinois

March - Jordan River, Utah

April - Washington D.C.

May - Mesa, Arizona

June - Logan, Utah

July - Denver, Colorado

August - Laie, Hawaii

September - St. Louis, Missouri

October - Seattle, Washington

November - Houston, Texas

December - Salt Lake City, Utah (with Christmas lights)

If you would like to see a preview of any of these temple paintings,

check out the Temple Paintings tab above.

Three little monkeys

2011-11-09T14:10:00.000-08:00

This is a picture that I painted of my three little monkeys. I loved the picture because it captures all three of them with a smile. The LDS Mesa Temple is in the background. I ended up painting it and giving it as a present to my parents and in-laws. Love my monkeys!

Angel Baby Christian

2011-11-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

Recently, I had the opportunity to work on a painting of an adorable little baby boy. I got to hold Christian and he had some of the biggest and most beautiful eyes ever! Sadly, Christian was only here on this earth for a short couple of months. He greatly blessed all the lives of those who knew him, or even knew of him. I know that I will forever remember what a beautiful little baby he was.

Fall Family Pic

2011-11-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome back... to me! It has been a while since I've done a whole lot with my blog/website. My family and I have spent the last few months searching, offering on, and buying a new home. We moved in this last weekend. Hooray! Thrilled to be in our own home and excited to put down some roots.

Speaking of family, here is a family portrait that I had the opportunity to turn into a painting. It is a beautiful family and I LOVE the fall background!

Soldier

2011-04-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a recent painting of a soldier. This was a challenge to work on because the original picture was very faded and had to be restored in some areas. The client ordered it as a present for her mother-in-law. It was her mother-in-law's husband from many years ago. Such a handsome man!

Good Friend

2011-01-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful woman order a painting of her family dog as a Christmas present for her parents. The dog had recently died and they felt like they had lost a member of the family. I always love working on paintings that are different and have a story behind them. I am happy thinking that this painting brought some joy and comfort to this family. Beautiful German Shepherd!

Lush greenery

2010-09-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a favorite that I did for a friend of mine a while back. Something about this one just makes me want to get out of the city and go camping!

Kelsey's Crew

2010-08-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

(Before)

I'm posting this one in honor of my little sister (bottom row, middle). She is serving an LDS mission in Russia right now. She has dealt with a lot of issues over there - currently still dealing with all the smoke and ash from the fires. Anyway, I've been thinking about her a lot and it made me think back to a couple short years ago when she was a freshman in college and was wanted me to paint this picture of her and her friends to give to them for Christmas. She is just plain awesome! I miss her and can't wait till next summer to get to see her and give her a huge hug.

(After)

The Newlyweds

2010-08-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

(Before)

Here is the engagement picture of one of my dear friends. I just adore her and was so happy to work on painting this picture. Love the both of them!

(After)

Venice

2010-08-31T20:54:00.000-07:00

(Before)

Here is a gorgeous picture that was taken in Venice. I love the way you can see the tip of the boat in front of you and the great colors from the plants and flowers. Makes me want to go there so badly!

Thanks for the great picture!

(After)

New Painting

2010-04-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, not much to add today. I am in the middle of working on a really great painting of a family in Hawaii. I'm fixing up a few problem areas in the picture so it is taking a bit longer than I expected. Is it weird that I love the challenge of a hard picture to paint? Yep, I think I am probably a bit odd. Oh well! I'll share the painting soon... :)

The Love Birds

2010-04-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Now would you look at this beautiful couple? I love, love, love the way this one turned out. Yes, this is a picture of my darling parents. Aren't they cute? My dad is the one that helped me get started with all this digital portrait stuff a few years back. As a present to thank them, I wanted to find a great picture and paint it for them. I couldn't find a good one, so I waited till they were here in Arizona visiting all the grandkiddies. I took a whole bunch of random pictures of everyone, secretly doing it so that I could get a good shot of them. This "Before" picture was perfect! So, here are my adorable parents!

Girls playing in the waves

2010-04-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

My cute little niece, Makenna, is the little girl on the right in this painting. I just adore this picture about as much as I adore my cute niece. She is the oldest niece on my side of the family so she has the delightful duties of being the one that has to watch the younger kiddos. Love you, Kenna!

Finished product

2010-04-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here is what I came up with for my boys' bedroom. Like I said, they both love animals. Brody has moved on from loving animals and is pretty much obsessed with them. In fact, this morning at breakfast he was telling me all about the animals that he was going to fix as an animal doctor when he gets big some day. As a three year old, he can't quite get the word "veterinarian" to come out smoothly. :)

Anyway, he was telling me that he is friends with the lions, tigers, elephants and zebras. He can "fix" those animals. However, the allligators and crocodiles are mad and have sharp teeth so they are going to stay sick. I was doing the dishes while listening to him rattle off his list of fixable animals. Needless to say, I got quite the kick out of it. Tanner (my four yr old) could not be outdone so he proceeded to tell me all about the animals he would be saving from the trees when he is a firefighter. Ah, the innocence of youth!

Back to the boys' bedroom... I got the prints of my animal paintings done so that I could put them up. I have an old book shelf that I wanted to use but didn't really want to fill it all with books or else my boys would be up reading all night instead of sleeping. So, I decided to keep it simple and put their beloved animals in frames and put them in the shelf instead. Here is how they turned out printing them off as 5x7's and then sticking them in 8x10 frames. Fun little safari animals for their room!

Potty Training

2010-04-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't posted for a couple days due to the painful and time consuming project I have been working on. Potty training. Yes, those are two words that would strike fear into any mother. Not only am I potty training, but I am potty training a boy. A boy that is as strong willed as any boy I've ever met.
We tried starting the potty training a couple months ago without much success. Brody just did NOT care! He didn't care if he went into a diaper or that he is such a big kid that he wakes up wet every morning even in a size 6 diaper. He didn't care if we took away his favorite stuffed animal or if we gave him his favorite treat.
But, some things you just have to deal with. Unfortunately, this is one of those things. So, the last three and a half days have been consumed with toilets, treats, toilets, practice runs, toilets, oh, and some Easter celebrating. We had a great Easter Sunday too. :)

Here is a painting of my big boy, Brody, from about a year ago. He is an even bigger boy now that he's going on the big boy potty. We are accident free on day four... Here's hoping that it stays that way!

Little Darlings

2010-04-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a painting of two little sisters. Their dad ordered the painting as a present for his wife. How fun would it be to get a surprise like that from a thoughtful husband?? I love my sweet hubbie but I'm not sure how many guys really think that far ahead about a birthday present!

Don't you just love that curly hair?!

Elephant

2010-04-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

One last animal to add here. Time to move on to something new. I'm excited to show this one to Brody. I think he is going to be extremelly happy when he sees this one. He carries any books that have elephants in them around the house and will search thru the books at the library trying to find any of them that have elephants. It is hilarious because as soon as he finds one he will yell (in the library), "Mom!!! There's an elephaaaant!" Love that boy and his animals.

Zebra

2010-04-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

So, on my way to pick up my older son from preschool, my animal-loving son, Brody, started asking me if I could ride any animal which one it would be. This is how many of our conversations have been going lately. He is just all about animals! I replied to him that I'd be delighted to ride a camel or an elephant. he told me that I was way off and that we needed to go to the zoo and ride the zebras. I got a kick out of that so I figured that would be number 3 out of the 4 animals I'm going to paint for now.

I'm planning on painting four "safari" type animals that would look good in any animal-loving child's room. Next I'm planning on painting some more sports and ballerina/flower type themes. It sure is a fun break from the normal people painting I've been doing lately. :)

The Lion

2010-03-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, here is round two. I painted most of it yesterday and then finished it up today. Once my son, Brody, woke up from his nap, I had him come to the computer so he could check it out. I wish I could have captured the look on his face when he saw it. He squealed loud enough to wake up my daughter who was still napping.

"Mommy, it is a Yion!!"

I just love his inability to pronounce the letter "L".

Not sure what animal I am going to do next. I may do a couple more animals and then venture on into something a bit more feminine for a girl's room. :)

The Giraffe

2010-03-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

I decided to take on a new project. I've had several people ask me if I ever paint anything besides the LDS temples, landscapes, and, of course, the original pictures that people order. I haven't done much besides those three but they have kept me nice and busy so I haven't felt much need. I was trying to think of something for my boys. They have a wide variety of interests. Tanner loves all things with motors. He loves airplanes, cars, trains, trucks, etc. Since he was small he has always been fascinated by them. My other son, Brody, on the other hand, has a very deep love for animals. He will carry around stickers books, coloring books, and any book that has an animal in it. He absolutely loves them and says (at three years old) that he wants to grow up to be a "vetrataria" or a doctor that works on fixing animals that are sick.

So, with that in mind, I thought I'd paint a few animals and see how they turn out. Afterwards I might try some of the planes, trains, and automobiles. Who knows, maybe after that I'll think of some cool things to paint for my daughter too.

Here is my first animal. Brody was very happy with it. I'll try a lion next. He is excited about that one!

Hole in one

2010-03-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

Good old Brettly! Here is a pic of a dear friend, Brett, doing what he love to do most. He is pretty much an amazing golfer and I believe this picture is from him golfing in Cabo San Lucas. Nice swing, Brett!

Shout out

2010-03-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a bit of blog stalking. Yep, I admit it. I love to wander around the world of blogging checking out what all the talented people are doing out there. I have found so many cool sites! I'll talk about a few here and there and keep adding my favorites as I go.

Cup of Jo - Ok, if you haven't checked out her blog, you seriously need to. She has a serious knack for finding the coolest things to blog about. She has an awesome giveaway going on right now. I love the ideas that people come up with!

Picky Palate - This one is a major shout out to good food. I LOVE yummy recipes. I probably do better on the computer sticking with the digital painting but on the days that I need to get away from the computer, I really love to cook. My friend, Jenny, is the brains and talent behind Picky Palate. She has some serious skills. Want to gain a pound or two?? Definitely try the Reeses Peanut Butter Egg cookies. Oooooh la la!!!

Lolly Jane Boutique - Like I said before, I am good with sticking to my computer for tapping into my creative juices. With that in mind, I am in awe at people who can do things like the twin sisters at Lolly Jane. I am seriously going to go out and get a nice sheet of metal and some fabric for my daughter's room. Hooray for creativity!

Well, that is it for now. I'll add more as the days roll by.

Sweet Son

2010-03-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the latest paintings. I was very touched to hear the story behind this one. The man that ordered it was ordering it for his mother in law. She had recently lost her husband and this was a favorite picture of him. He was having it painted for her. That is definitely a great son-in-law to do something like that for a mother. Such a great picture too!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

International, here we come!

2010-02-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

As stated below, I am hoping to create another LDS temple calendar with all international temples. Here is one of my first temples from Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. My sweet husband grew up down there. They opened this temple back in 1999. Every time we go down to visit my in-laws, I love getting to see the beautiful temple nestled up on the hill. Not sure if it is just because my hubby is from there or what, but I always have such a special feeling every time I get to go there. If you've never been there, you ought to check it out. It is unlike any other place I've ever been. Hooray for the Colonies!

Lofty Goals

2010-02-04T13:26:00.000-08:00

Well, now that 2010 is here it is time to start working my temple calendar for 2011. Not sure if I'll change anything from the one I already made for 2010. However, I have had a couple people ask for an international temple calendar. I am thinking that I may start collecting temple pictures from those who have visited or actually live in foreign countries and have a good picture or two of their temple.