Food and Thankfulness

Since Thanksgiving is just two days away and we all have food on the brain, lets just talk food.

This year Thanksgiving falls on my husband and I's 4 year wedding anniversary.  Once I saw that, I told my husband I am not cooking....at all.  He told me he wasn't either.  Well, what are we to do when pretty much everywhere is closed.  We had BBQ at our wedding so my husband is going to throw a rack of ribs in the crock pot and slow cook them for us to eat.  He claims that still means he isn't cooking, but well that sounds like cooking to me.  I'm not complaining and am looking forward to the wonderful non-traditional meal we are having this Thursday.

Do you have any non-traditional food at your thanksgiving feast?  I would love to hear what you have and the story behind it.  Every family has different traditions and memories and all are fun to share.  So have a Happy Thanksgiving and do not forget to give thanks for all the many blessings you have.  Let me share with you all the things I am thankful for this year as I finish my short blog post this week.

I am thankful for:
1. God, He has given me all that I have, am, and will be
2. Jesus, my Savior, my redeemer, my payment so I may have eternal life in Heaven.
3. My husband, for four wonderful years of marriage, full of challenges and joy (more joy then anything).
4. My son, the joy he brings me everyday and answer to many prayers.
5. My family, the support and love they give each and everyday.
6. My health, a true gift of God that I may breathe and live without pain.
7. A warm home, when so many do not have one, I am thankful that I was blessed enough to have one.
8. My silly dog, for bringing me comfort and playfulness.
9. My friends, for being the support and friendship every person needs.
10. The gift of art, I was blessed with a gift and I pray that I can help others with it.

Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!! 

*Black Friday Deals coming in my Etsy shop this Friday! Stay tuned in*

Photo Editting

Happy Fall Y'all!  I hope your home is just as lovely as ever with all the leaves changing.  Thanksgiving is on the horizon and boy oh boy is their cooking to be done!  Thanksgiving is sometimes glossed over by Christmas but no worries, that food will find it's way to your table I am sure!

This past weekend we went with some friends to take family pictures for upcoming Christmas cards.  It was a lot of fun!  Taking pictures of little ones can be difficult, so my motto is, take a million and you have a good chance of finding one good one to keep.  We did just about that, we took 300+ pictures and I managed to find a few to work with.  I wanted to share how I edited them in hopes that will give you ideas of how to edit photos.

First, let me start with the editing software I used....an online website.  HERE is the website I used.  It is similar to Photoshop but not completely.  If you have Photoshop or Lightroom (my preferred photo editing software) you are already one step ahead of me.  Let's talk about photos now-a-days. They are usually look over exposed and bright.  I am finding that to be the trend of photos today and I do not think they are bad just the current trend.  I personally like my photos to be rich with color.  Heavily saturated to experience every color present in the photo.  So when I edit, I find myself adjusting the saturation more then the white balance or lightness settings.  Here are a before and after of my editing:

Before

After

You can tell that the original image was darker due to the outside lighting so, of course, I wanted to brighten that up.  I like to avoid filters that Photoshop offers.  Such as, sepia, black and white, or old photo.  I go straight for the sliding options under hue and saturation or brightness and contrast.  This gives you the opportunity to adjust it perfectly to your liking or what is best for the photo.  But, I have to always remind myself to not get too carried away with the contrast slider....because it can really ruin the colors in your image.

So, take a photo you have and go to Photoshop or Lightroom, if you do not have that software use the link I provided above and experiment.  The best way to learn is just messing around on the computer a little bit.  Make your photos something special and remember to be the best artist you can be!!!

Carve a Pumpkin

How was everyone's Halloween?  I hope it was fun and a safe time.  Now that Halloween is over, most people gloss right over Thanksgiving and move straight on to Christmas. I will try my best to behave myself and wait until after Thanksgiving to put up decorations.  I usually try and wait until the day after Thanksgiving to start that process.  This year, Thanksgiving happens to land on my husband and I's 4th wedding anniversary.  I told him I was not cooking a big meal this year since it's just us three and our anniversary.  So, the wonderful man he is, is going to cook BBQ for us since we had BBQ at our wedding.  That's what happens when you are born and raised and married in the great state of Texas, have BBQ at your wedding!

Anyways....back to pumpkins.  This year we carved our pumpkins the day of Halloween since it landed on a Saturday.  My husband carved his usual jack-o-lantern and I found a last minute idea minutes before we started carving.  Not my best work, but something different.  The picture is not the best....take a look:

If you can't tell (which lets face it that's a bad picture) It is fireflies in a jar and some flying around it. 

Now that you have seen my not well planned out, bad picture, poorly carved pumpkin....let's look at some good ones.

Pretty cool and well done huh?  I guess my lesson learned is to start planning for next year now.  The key to good pumpkin carving is the use of negative and positive space.  You have to think about when the candle within is lit, that the orange parts will look black.  The yellow rind will be yellow.  And the completely cut out parts will be white. The main part of pumpkin carving is to control the light and use it to create you image.  It might take some trial and error but you can make some amazing pumpkin carvings too.  So, start planning for next year with me and let's see what we come up with.  So like always, be the best artist you can be!!

Paint a Pumpkin Part 2

Last week I shared my painted pumpkins.  This week, I wanted to share some more that I found of other people's painted pumpkins. I hope you had the chance to paint some or now that Halloween is getting even closer, carve your pumpkins.

Here are a few cool looking pumpkins I found online:

They look pretty cool!  Some very simple and some detailed.  Have you painted any pumpkins yet?  If so please share, I would love to see your creations!  

This Saturday I will be carving my pumpkins and can not come up with any ideas for what to do.  Any suggestions?  I might just try it and share on here what I did.  

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Paint a Pumpkin

Happy Harvest everyone!  When you live in Kansas, the harvest time really is a serious thing.  Crops are being harvested for the season and farmers are getting ready for the winter coming our way.

Traditionally, we carve pumpkins this time of year.  But, with Halloween still two weeks away, carving now, might be too early.  So why not paint the pumpkin first?  I was asked to paint some pumpkins for our church and I thought I would share them with you to help you get some inspiration for your own painted pumpkins.

Recognize these rather, well known characters?  The pumpkins are the perfect shape and size to be a minion.  

Do not get me wrong...I still plan on carving a pumpkin, its a tradition!  And when you are a prize winning pumpkin carver (brag alert!) then you can imagine, I've got to still carve.  But, like I said before, it's still kind of early to carve so PAINT!  This year, our son picked out a little pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.  It really is too small to carve so we are going to let him paint it.  Then, my husband and I will carve the big ones while our son gets to play with the pumpkin guts.  Since, Halloween is on a Saturday this year, we are planning to make a whole day of fun.  So, I would like to inspire you to have a full day of traditions and fun with your family while still being creative.  So, as usual, keep being the best artist you can be!  

HELLO! ARE YOU THERE?!

I'm here, I'm here!  I promise I did not abandon you or my blog!  It has been awhile, hasn't it?  My goodness my life has been go, go, go for the last four weeks I'm so exhausted!  But have no fear, Brenna Dailey is HERE!  (Yes, that was ridiculous but hey so am I!)

With all these holidays on the horizon, I have a lot of fun things to share with you.  Once the spooky holiday gets closer we will share more spooky and fun things to do.  But, today, I have a fun art project you can try with your kids or friends or just by yourself to get those artistic juices flowing!

This activity can be done indoors or out, I chose to work indoors because my project for next week is being worked on in my backyard and I want to keep it a secret for now.  This activity will require you to reach deep within your mind of imagination to create fun things with everyday objects.  I work better with some visuals before I explain any further to better get my point across....

"A Keurig That Makes Treats, Not Just Coffee"

"Party Ball"

"Scolding or Frigid Thermostat" 

See what I mean about imagination?!  Now go out with a piece of paper and a pencil or pen and find something ordinary, like a Keurig maker or even just a ball and make it something fun.  What do you wish it could do or be?  What do you feel like it is most of the time and want to draw it how it truly is...like my thermostat.  Please share what you have done in the comments below or with me personally.  This activity will help you practice your drawing skills while using your imagination at the same time.  It is a great practice for future Halloween creativity or Christmas decor or just to brush up on those art skills OR just for FUN!!  So remember, to be the best artist you can be and get out there and create!!

Do not forget....Christmas is on it's way and shopping has started.  Need an idea for a gift?  Check out my Etsy shop for some great art for your friends and family....HERE!

Art in Nature

Their is a wonderful thing happening now.  Fall.  This was always my mother's favorite time of year until recently, it is becoming mine too.  Maybe it has to do with getting married in the fall or that I live in a place where their is a fall.  Either way, both are amazing reasons to love this time of year.  So, pull out those wonderful decorations because fall is the only season that the decorations can stay up the longest.

I had a wonderful weekend.  My town holds a huge bluegrass festival and I finally went to it with a friend.  I really enjoy the music so the festival just made it that much more exciting.  Then, my friend and I took my son to a wildlife park for him to interact with some amazing animals.  A weekend full of great things in this wonderful fall-like weather.

I like to introduce you to new artist I stumble across now and then and today, I have a new one for you.  Jason deCaires Taylor is a sculptor who likes to place his sculptures in the ocean.  Seems like a silly thing to think of, no one can see them. But, yet he places them there so you have to actively seek them.  A clever thing to do to draw appeal.  His art is made of non-hazardous material that welcomes coral to grow.  Taylor believes that the ocean does not get as much credit as it deserves and wanted to place his art there so, people will explore the ocean to find it.  We as people sometimes forget the wonders the ocean can hold.  On land, beauty is so much easier to reach that we spend most of our time enjoying what is easily attained.  If exploring under the waves was easier, then I like to imagine more people would travel to see the beauty it keeps.  Enjoy this artist's work and maybe before it gets too cold, explore the world underneath the water.

To see more of this artist's work, click HERE