Outlander Art Retreat: Scotland

Hello my friends!

I do hope you are well and that the holiday season is treating you kindly. I know it’s crazy busy! We got the tree up early this year and the house is all decked out in lights and trim. So pretty!

In the midst of all the festive mayhem, I’ve been plugging along on a very, very important project of mine. A dream really….that has finally come to light. I’ve meticulously planned my first international Art Retreat for May 2017!!  Now, I just need guests to take along with me!

Who loves Art AND Outlander? Show of hands! Well, I do and I’m hoping some of you do too because that’s what this Art Adventure is all about!

I have found as an artist, that nothing inspires me more than travel and good stories! The Outlander books first captivated me (completely) when I was pregnant with my first daughter. I devoured the books and created art around the characters. I even named my second daughter, Claire. It’s not a co-incidence!! ;)

A fan? Yup! A fanatic? Yeah, maybe but I thought why not combine two of my passions? A perfect excuse to travel with some like minded friends and see Scotland while creating art along the way!

So who’s with me? As Jamie would say…”Je suis prest!” (I am ready.)

If you want to read more about this extraordinary journey come check out the page here or click on the image below.  I’ve got a detailed day by day itinerary all planned out! It’s dreamy!

I hope to meet some of you in Scotland!

Happy Holidays and much love to you all!

xo,

 

 

 

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Birthday Girl

Hello there.

Hope your weekend has been lovely so far. I was going to wait till Monday to share these but I found myself with some quiet time and thought I better take advantage of it!

Claire’s b’day was such a wonderful day. We had family in from out of town and many friends and neighbors came to celebrate our little girl. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. The sun was shining after days of rain, not a cloud in the sky and everyone was more than willing to sit outside and enjoy some food, drinks and of course, sweet Claire. Grace was incredibly excited for her sister and was helpful and supportive. She even made a “sign in” poster that she made all the guests sign as they came in. So cute!

My mother-in-law made some beautiful decorations for the house and I borrowed these great cupcake stands from a neighbor (thanks Christine!) to complete the butterfly and rose dessert table.

I got these precious paper butterflies from this Etsy shop. You can eat them too!

It took Claire a minute to figure out what to do with her cupcake…but it wasn’t long before she was stuffing her face.

She was beaming from ear to ear with all the love and cuddles she got.

So grateful for the special time I got with my family and friends…especially my Aunt Iris and Grandmother who traveled all the way from the east coast to meet Claire.

Much love to you all.

xo,

Ivy

Claire Bear is turning 1!

Hi my lovely readers! Hope your week is going well so far. Today, I come to you with some shots of Claire that I took a couple of days ago. I can’t believe that on the 19th she will be one years old! It seems like she just arrived!

I loved using this vintage yo-yo quilt as my backdrop! It’s like a field of multi-colored flowers. :)

I shot these upstairs in the hallway where we have a skylight directly overhead. It gave me great even, natural light.

 

She is actually wearing her sisters tank top…so she is swimming in it but I love the lace edges and it happened to be within reach so I figured, what the heck?

This one is a bit blurry so forgive me but I had to include it because…well…that grin is just too cute!

I will be sure to capture more photos at her birthday party!

Much love to you all!

xo,

Ivy

Claire bear is 4 months old…

Hello. Today, Clarie and I spent some time taking pictures. She is 4 1/2 months old and I’m attempting to do a portrait of her each month.  This one comes in a tad late but I still wanted to share it with you all. She’s been sitting up more and even trying to hold her own bottle. Her expressions are priceless and that little baby giggle gets me every time!

Have a lovely rest of the week!

xo,

 

The Nursery

Hello! How is everyone doing so far this week? I had a rough go at it yesterday with 5 hours of annoying “practice” contractions…ugh. Wiped me out. Luckily, I rented a wide angle lens that morning and did the nursery photo-shoot before my uterus decided to do a workout. As promised…here is Claire’s room…

As many of you know, this room is inspired by my recent trip to Paris. I have incorporated French antiques, sweet French bunnies and a color palette of soft petal pink, ivory and shades of French gray. My dear hubby built the cornice box above the crib and installed sheer panels for the canopy. The walls are painted “Atlantic Winter” by Miller Paint.

I added touches of wrought iron since you see so much of it in Paris and it contrasts nicely with all the light tones. The iron crystal lantern is from Pottery Barn and the vintage candle sconces I got from this Etsy shop.

I found this beautiful, antique French print at a local antique store. She looks so elegant in a white and gold vintage frame…

Creating these digital collages for the room was an absolute blast! I got them printed on canvas and up they went. The translation is “I love Paris in the Springtime, when hope blooms.” And of course, I had to have a photo of big sis up on Claire’s shelves…

Okay…well there you have it. The room is all ready for Baby Claire…now we just have to see when she arrives.

I will probably be taking a break from the blog for a little while…not sure when exactly but if I suddenly disappear for a bit – you will know why! I promise I won’t be too long and you know I’m gonna be all over an attempt at newborn photography!

Thank you for your continued love, support and encouragement!

xo,

Big Sister Project : Door Hanger

Last week, I was putting the final touches in the nursery when I felt a little hand tugging my shirt. Grace looked up at me, wide-eyed and smiling,

“Mommy, I want to do something for Claire’s room too.”

“Of course you do. ” I replied. I grabbed her hand and slowly led her back downstairs to our studio. I had to think fast. I needed a project that she could handle, using the bits and pieces I had. Then it hit me, a door hanger!

We had done a collage project together back when I was taking the Creatively Made e-course with Jeanne Oliver and I still had some of those supplies. Perfect.

I grabbed one of my 4″ x 4″ canvases, matte medium, brushes, scissors and a stack of vintage papers. She got right to work covering the canvas with the medium and paper pieces. I dug through my scrapbook supplies and pulled embellishments and words that she could add on, plus a few baubles and 3D elements too. Gotta have a little bling! Right?

After she had completely collaged the canvas with the vintage paper, I helped her brush on some white paint and then gently rub it in with a cloth to unify and soften the background. Then I let her arrange the embellishments until we reached a design we both loved. Some glitter, ribbon and a few healthy dollops of hot glue and we were done! Grace had created a special gift for her sister’s room. She was beaming with pride and was anxious to go hang it on her door. Here is the result…

I think it turned out quite pretty and it goes perfectly with the room too! Good job Gracie! This is a super fun and easy project to do with your child. Let me know if you have any questions about the process.

xo,