V is for VERY....

...very excited that after....

Our beautiful first born daughter, Girly~Twirly,...

(2008 - engagement photos taken by photographer Ben Keeling)

"Fall~n~Love" 

 ...and her handsome honey met in college...

(2008 - engagement photos taken by photographer Ben Keeling)

"Autumn Kiss"

 

...fell in love...

(2008 - engagement photos taken by photographer Ben Keeling)

"Old School"

...were engaged while in medical and dental school...

 (2008 - engagement photos taken by photographer Ben Keeling)

"A City Walk...together" 

 ...And after 2 and a half years of marriage...

  

...and a year of a very intense schedule as a dentist (she's the dentist) & one year of a very crazy medical residency (he's the dermatologist...with 3 more years of residency to go)...

 Spring 2011...at the horse races...

 ...& a move to a new city and state and the purchase of their first home...

 (two of many photos I took when we were able to visit in July)

...we are so VERY excited to share the news of & first photo of...

*SWEET BABY B*

 (taken on August 12, 2011).

...our first grandbaby!

Last Friday was her doctor's appt, and they were able to hear Baby B's heartbeat :o)

*******

....Sharing only one drawing today (running behind on getting the artwork posted!) &  still working on more orders to be shipped.

This was sent to me by a very sweet friend, whom I met through this wonderful world of blogging...and has ordered many other drawings of the art I do for her family members.

Thank you LV for sending these photos of it matted/framed and displayed!

LV sent a sweet email with these photos:  
"...They really were proud of it.  Said several of their friends had commented as to where they got it.  They were impressed...."

This is a collage of her piece drawn entirely with the last name MORGAN and the family members throughout the tree in their own leaf. Thanks LV for your neat idea for a family tree. I had shared this on an earlier post, but thought to show it again with the photos that LV sent.

 ...VERY excited to the upcoming addition to our family tree!

 Joining in

...with Jenny's  Alphabe-Thursday's "V" 

...and with Alicia for Friday Photo Flashback. 

..with Mel for Fancy Friday Blog hop.

...with Maria and Nicole for http://www.mariashandmadelove.com/2011/09/circle-of-friends-weekend-blog-hop-5.html

I also was invited by our daughter to join in the fun with Pinterest!
Oh my! Learning more about that now too!

*one last thing...don't forget to enter if you are interested in the $50 NOVICA gift certificate Giveaway mentioned on my previous post. This ends Sept 29th*

Unique company, opportunity & $50 gift certificate giveaway

I am thankful for the many things that I have collected as a military child and military spouse from the many countries that we have lived ....or for the gifts from my dad, husband and brother whenever they had deployed with the military ...or for the gifts our children have picked up on their travels.

Places such as Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, Germany, Poland, Turkey, China, Honduras, Holland, Portugal, Spain, Egypt, Iraq...

*******

This week, I was introduced to & would like to share with you:

 a Unique website. 

After Ricky from NOVICA contacted me with information of "one of the leading fair trade artisans websites", I wanted to take a look first to see what it was all about.  

This collage I made are of just a few of the many amazing pieces I really liked on NOVICA.

batik scarf created by Mayda of Bali ~ Sterling silver pearl earrings created by Buana of Bali ~ 3 colorful woven boxes created by Wayan Genep of Bali

Hand blown glasses by Javier & Efren of Mexico ~ Kashmiri chainstitched rug by Sajad of India ~ Cotton Hammock, "Manaus Majesty by the women pf Ceara, Brazil

Ceramic vase, "Sowing Fields" by the Huaman Paucar family of the Andes ~ watercolor painting "Girl with Bucket" created by Carlos Morales of the Andes ~ Sterling silver cuff bracelt created by Ploy Intha of Thailand

Unique Fair Trade Artisan website:

NOVICA

So many beautiful handcrafted items created by artisans from various countries 

around the world.

(image taken from NOVICA website)  

& I loved reading the stories of the artisans that are featured. Some of them are the sole bread winners for their families.

*******

& for any of you interested...

a Unique opportunity:

Be a Consultant!

(image taken from NOVICA website)

As a consultant, "...getting in early is a big opportunity in direct sales. ..a lot of promotions going on for...early consultants, including anyone that becomes a 

Director this year will go to Bali next year."

For more information on how to be a consultant, please go here: Novica Live

And if you become a consultant, please be sure to let them know you heard about NOVICA from my blog. Thank you so much!

*******

& a Unique Giveaway:

$50 gift certificate

NOVICA also gave me $100 to use as I choose on NOVICA's great website. So I am looking forward to using $50 and also give away a $50 gift certificate for one of my blog readers to shop and use towards any of their many beautiful items on their website.

Giveaway ends midnight September 29, 2011. And winner will be announced on September 30th.

Here are the ways to enter:

Mandatory entry & in one comment for Entry #1: 

Please go to at least three of the following 5 sites and let me know an item from each of the three that strikes your fancy :o) 

 Accessories

Men's walking sticks

Men's accessories

Men's scarves

Men's sterling silver cufflinks

Novica has items from jewelry to home decor, so be sure to peek around at all they have to offer.

 & for more chances to win...These are additional entries (if you choose to enter with these additional entries, please leave separate comments for each and your email address):

Entry #2  Follow my blog

Entry #3  Follow my facebook art page, by "liking" it :o)

Entry #4  Post about this on your blog and let me know which post, so I can visit.

Thank you for stopping by and entering. I've only done a couple of reviews before, and I really have been so pleased with those, as well as the opportunity to share this Unique company today.

Joining in

...Free Pretty Things For You's Whatever You Want Wednesday.

...with Jenny's  Alphabe-Thursday's "U" 

..with Mel for Fancy Friday Blog hop.

...with Maria and Nicole for http://www.mariashandmadelove.com/2011/09/circle-of-friends-weekend-blog-hop-4.html#more

*******

One last thing, I usually post something about my family or the things in my neck of the woods, so that you can get a glimpse behind the art that I do...this week, I am not, but as always, I try to share some past art orders on every post. If you are new to my blog, every drawing that I do is drawn entirely with an individual's name.

These are a few landmarks from various countries.

This is the Arc de Triomphe. An order for a customer's daughter-in-law who loved this structure when she visited France.

This was from a windmill in the Netherlands. This was drawn for a customer for someone that became a dear friend of theirs while stationed in the Netherlands.

This is the Neuschwanstein castle in  Schwangau, Germany.  This was ordered for a son who also was intrigued by this beautiful castle when visiting it years ago.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop and comment. All the best to those that wish to participate in this Unique giveaway :o)

Tummies and Toes

These are some past photos of Tummies and Toes.
...so much cuter, when they belong to babies :o)

 This is my Handsome Hubby and little bald-headed me. :o)

 

Mr. B: 

19lbs. 8 oz. 

4 months old

in Hilo, Hawaii

1962

 *taken from his baby book: @ 4.5 months, says "this, this", tries to do pat-a-cake. May 7, ...tooth peeping out of gums".*

Me:

about 5/6 months old

in the Philippines

1964 

Girly~Twirly

About 4 months old

16 lbs. 14 oz.

Holloman AFB, New Mexico

1983

*from baby book: every time after laughing, she ends up with hiccups. On car trips, if you were crying, dad and I would sing songs and then you would stop crying. One of the songs was the Swinging Consonants song...sometimes we would end up singing more than one round of this song. *

(I learned that this song was from an original 1938 classic 3 Stoogies movie!)

Yay! For google searches: Found this on Youtube of the original 3 Stoogies' movie.

*We sang this fun song to and with all our three*

 Girly~Whirly

about 4 months old

18lbs. 11oz.

Ft. Rucker, Alabama

 1987 

*taken from baby book: "....you would laugh and laugh when your sister walked around you when you were on the floor.. She gave you water from a glass, Mommy thought you would choke, but you drank like a pro and after that, you would get very excited every time you saw a glass!*

(her two bottom teeth broke through at 4 months old)

Heartbreaker

 

about 4 months old

Schofield Barracks, Hawaii

1990

*taken from baby book: "you scoot around on the walker and love to say "oooo" and your lips would be formed in a perfect little "o" shape..."when we say "pat, pat, pat...you would pat your hands on anything in front of you."*

 

*******

Here are some recent orders:

From a facebook msg: "... I will be putting in an order for you as well so depending on how busy you are you can just ship both? It will be a navy one, a friend of Kevin's is retiring on Sept 2nd, and we talked and thought that this would be a great gift for him."

 

This one is on its way to California. Thank you Lauri for thinking of this for a retirement gift.

  

***

 This trumpet was drawn for the birthday of the son of a dear friend, who is my walking buddy (although it has been for.ever, since we have done any walking in this summer heat).  Mom chose to have the sheet music of one of his favorite songs, drawn in the background, with his name on the bottom staff. 

From Donna: "Here is a picture of the song that Jordan likes to play. The part he plays all the time on his trumpet is measure 18-26."

 

 I can't wait to hear his reaction to this piece and to see if he noticed what song it is in the sheet music. :o)

***

Thank you Leanne, for your email: 

"My name is Leanne and I got your business card from my brother.  He is a helicopter pilot at Ft. Campbell, TN.  You had done a sketch for him of his helicopter and call sign.  I was wondering if you would be willing to do a sketch for me as a gift for my best friends wedding.  I have attached the picture.  Let me know if you have time to do this..."

Here is the piece drawn from her photo.

 Email after her art was received: "...The art is perfect and looks awesome!  your work is amazing!"

Joining in

...with Jenny's  Alphabe-Thursday's "T" 

...with Alicia for Friday Photo Flashback. 

..with Mel for Fancy Friday Blog hop.

(Also, be sure to check out my upcoming post for a unique giveaway!)