Mama's Helper

Maura is such a helper. She started scooting a couple of weeks ago, and her speed has really picked up. It's a chore keeping her from my paints, but at least she's able to offer me her assitance with quality control.

I think this Welcome sign passed her stringent quality tests!

Winter Shopping Coming Soon!

I spent this weekend wrapping up some loose ends before the Handmade Omaha Winter Art and Craft Bazaar that will be taking place next weekend. It is the ONLY holiday show I will be selling at this season. Baby Maura has kept me so busy this year, that I decided one would be enough. Make sure you stop out and see me, because it will be your only chance to buy in person from me for Christmas!

Here are some delicious looking donut magnets that I painted this weekend. Let me tell you, these made me mighty hungry for some sweet, deep-fried treats! These will be available at next weekend's show!

A Little Cottage

I'm working on a couple of extra large log slice paintings. I've been sitting on these 12" log slices for over a year now trying to decide what to paint on them. I finally just gave up agonizing over it, and painted! I love how they're turning out so far. Here is a little preview:

Dragon Baby and a Balloon

I finally made a decision about what to paint on my unique wood slice: a little gray fox waving good bye in his hot air balloon. I imagine he's on his way to the Emerald City, just like the Great and Powerful Oz.

 

In other recent news, we had a little dragon baby for Halloween. Maura loved trick-or-treating, which mostly consisted of her smiling at family members, and graciously accepting their compliments about her cuteness.

 

RAWR!

I'm workin' the early Christmas orders today. Love these cute little dinos, and I hope their recipients love them, too! I'm going to have a selection of customize-able ornaments available this season online at tangentsbyshs.etsy.com and in person at the Handmade Omaha Holiday Bazaar! Check out the Upcoming Events section of my blog to learn more about the Holiday Bazaar this November. Lots of wonderful artists will be there with their wares - It's the best show of the season!

Thinking, Painting, Laundry

I've been staring at this wood slice for several weeks now. I love the interesting shape! Nothing seems good enough to paint on it. I've considered a giraffe, a lion, a hedgehog, and a deer. All would be cute, but would they be just the perfect thing? Currently I have a nice coat of beige paint on for the background. Hopefully inspiration will strike soon!

  

In other news, Maura has been helping with the laundry lately. As you can see, lots of work is (not) getting done!

 

 

Just Keep Swimming

I spent my Sunday afternoon playing with baby Maura and painting - two of my most favorite activities! I caught Maura doing a really convincing impression of reading. Yes, that book has tails, and yes, she loves it!

It was pretty warm out today. I mean, 90 degrees in October is pretty intense! It inspired this li'l fish painting. The bubbles make me feel nice and cool.

Why I've Been Gone SOOOO Long

Where have I been these past two months? It's unbelievable how fast time flies when you have a sweet little smiley baby to play with. It's amazing how little I get done now that I have this little fuzz-head to cuddle!

 

I've been working on some new wood slice paintings. I've been inspired by peach and teal, and my love of trees, of course!

 

My Itsy-Bitsy Helper

Maura has been helping with packing and shipping some orders. And by helping, I mean being content enough to give me some time to get my orders completed. I love having the company of this cutie while I'm working!

summer flair

Maura and I took a walk around town today, and it is humid! It's the kind of weather that makes me wish I was on the beach or at least at the swimming pool!

It's a great time of year for ocean critter brooches, and I have a great selection in my Etsy shop. All of my brooches are hand cut from scrap wood and hand painted with care. This whale brooch is one of my favorites!

Baby Maura

My sweet baby, Maura Elizabeth, finally made her appearance 7 days late on June 26th, and let me tell you, it was well worth the wait! I cannot begin to describe how much I'm enjoying being Maura's mommy. I feel so filled with love for my little family, and I'm so grateful for all of the people who have supported and congratulated us over these last couple of weeks.

Jason and Maura - two of my favorite folks!

During my new baby bliss, my Etsy shop is still open, and it's filled with all kinds of delicous looking hand painted magnets!

The Ultimate Breakfast mix - look at those bacon magnets sizzle!

Overdue

Yesterday was Baby Schmit's official due date, thus making her officially overdue! Jason and I are so anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Here I am, still pregnant, but still happy (thank goodness for air conditioning):

While I wait, though, I have been able to make time for a little bit of painting! This "Adventure" sign is in progress and will be headed to its new home, soon!

Snacks/Magnets

Just because I wish I had a big ol' bowl of guacamole right now, I've decided to show off my guacamole mix magnet set. It's delicious (but in all reality, it's inedible, so don't eat it.) My magnets are made from naturally fallen cedar branches and each one is hand painted. Add a little piece of magnetic art to your refrigerator!

XXL Dahlia

It may not meet the dictionary definition of 'art', but it's still (mostly) handmade. I mean, I planted it myself.

Biggest most beautiful dahlia. ever.

Schmit Home Solutions' 4th Annual Spring Open House!

Schmit Home Solutions had their 4th annual spring open house last Sunday. The open house is always one of my favorite days of the year. I have an excuse to clean my studio and set up a little show room, and I get to help greenhouse customers. It's so awesome to think about all of our little plants going out to bloom around town and beyond!

Here are a couple of photos from the event (I even convinced Jason to pose with me for one!)

Snips and Snails

Wow, it's been awhile since my last post, again. These last couple of months have been pretty crazy for me. Greenhouse season is in full swing (yay, my favorite time of year!), I'm 32 weeks pregnant with a baby girl (our first child, yay again!), and I recently started a new engineering job (I love it, yay for a third time!).

I'm still painting, of course, because there's really no better way to relax. I've added several new cedar slice painting designs to my Etsy shop. This snail is definitely my favorite new design.

Greenhouse Mural

Last spring we decided that our greenhouse was a little drab. The plain white walls just didn't create the upbeat atmosphere we were hoping for. So, after months of thinking and worrying, I've finally started painting a spring-y mural. This is definitely the largest scale painting I've ever done, and it definitely has me out of my comfort zone! I am enjoying the challenge so far, though!

Dahlias

The air feels warm outside today, and the sun is shining! I really wish it was spring, but I know the seasons are just trying to fool me.

I used my "spring fever" this morning to make a fancy new dahlia wood slice painting. I can not wait for all the beautiful blooms that pop up in warmer weather!

Fruity

Hand painted fruit magnets have hit the virtual shelves of Tangents! Add a pop of color to your refrigerator door with these sustainably harvested wood slice magnets.

Happy Valentine's Day

The Ultimate Magnetic Breakfast

I've been feeling very breakfast-y lately. Although, I'm not entirely sure that 'breakfast-y' is a legitimate feeling.

Anyways, I decided to express myself through magnet art! I now have three new sets of magnets available in my Etsy shop: Coffee and Donuts (3 piece), Eggs and Bacon (3 piece), and the Ultimate Breakfast (6 piece).

Magnets are hand painted on salvaged wood slices and range in size from 3/4" to 1 1/2", they feature a strong round ceramic magnet that can hold up to 10 sheets of paper against your refrigerator. I'm feeling hungry just thinking about them!

A Special Welcome

This special welcome sign was created as a wedding/Christmas gift (I was a little late getting it created in time for the wedding) for an awesome Texan couple.

I've been experimenting with varying the fonts within one creation, and I love how this sign turned out simple and beautiful (and the polka-dots in "welcome" were pretty fun to paint!)

I now have this sign available for customization in my Etsy shop. It makes a fantastic and personal wedding or housewarming gift!

Little Love Panda

Lately, all my new designs involve bears. They look so cuddly... from a distance of course.

Here's a little love panda just in time for Valentine's Day. His waving paw and bamboo heart is sure to impress that special someone!

It's been too long

It is now one day short of an entire month since my last post! Needless to say, it has been way too long.

Time has flown this last month with celebrating the regular holidays, catching the dreaded stomach flu, and finishing up my most fun and busiest Tangents Christmas season yet!

The holiday season may be over, but it's always a good time to treat yourself to new art! There are plenty of unique wood slice paintings still available in my Etsy shop. This very fancy owl painting would look lovely hanging from the wall of your living room: