My Secret Obsession

Besides Gavin Rossdale...oh how hot you were in the 90's!!!

Anyway, when Casey left for basic he left knowing that I would have TOO MUCH time on my hands (sing it if you know it...tic tic tic ticking away!) .  And he knew that inevitably I would fall back into those terrible bad habits I've always been drawn to.  He knew that I would surrender.  He knew that I wouldn't even give up a fight.  And he certainly knew that he would be hearing about it non-stop.

Just admit it, I've got your complete attention now!

So what are these so called "bad habits" of mine?  Well since I'm not into drugs, I prefer to fill my urges with designing.  On second hand, designing IS a drug!  I seriously spend my day going from room to room, remodeling EVERYTHING in my head...hashing out plans...and drawing up changes.  

I must have my daily fix...and if I don't get it, I become a beast. Sure, design blogs and home magazines help, but eventually that itch to "tear down a wall" starts creeping up again.  And I'm all too willing to submit to it's call.  The only problem is, my checkbook usually isn't...BOO!  So I pace back and forth, peddling out plans to beat my checkbook into submission...and thus get my fix.

My profession background doesn't help either.  I spend hours each day looking at houses and floor plans, and coming up with new ideas to spruce up my home.  And unlike most people who don't know what they want out of a house, I already have our future home completely drawn up.  I'm not even 25, and I know exactly how I want my future foyer to look...how sad is that!?!

All that to say, I'm kinda obsessed!  Case in point:  After spending the day drawing yesterday, I came down stairs and a new design bubble hit me. 

"What if we painted the ceiling in the second bedroom?"  

Hmm...I'm intrigued.  

"But wait,"  said the design bubble, "what if we painted a diamond grid on the ceiling?"  

Diamonds!! I'm sold!

So that's when I came up with this:

I'm thinking super light blue in a glossy-glaze kinda sheen!!!  It's not perfect...and the colors are kinda off...but I needed something to convince/bribe/sell my husband into doing it.  So can I have it Honey?  I promise to take good care of it, and love it, and admire it!!!  Please please please!!!!

So that's the story of my sad, miserable life and how uber obsessed I get with my drug designing!  More posts to come on this topic!!

Spa Day In

I read an article recently that stated that men find women the most sexy when the woman feels confident in whatever she's wearing. Well if that's the case, I must be the SEXIEST woman alive for showing you these pics!!

That's right!! Revel in my HOTNESS!!! Ha!

Anyway, this last Wed. I set about to pamper myself...a girls gotta have some polishings every once in a while. And if you're on a budget like me, you make do on your own (Side Note: I read another article that said Wichitan's on average spend $69 a month on beautifying themselves...wow that's a lot of money). So I'm totally fine having a spa day at me casa!!

And I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite beauty products. Don't feel like you've got to go out and buy everything on my list...these are just a few of the products I've discovered through the years!

Click the picture to see a larger view.
1. Arbonne's FC5 cleanser/toner, day lotion, night cream, and eye cream...I love these products. The cleanser is SO gentle, and it never leaves my face feeling dry. Good face products can be hard to come by, so when I found this set...I was in LOVE!!

2.Sauve's Advance Therapy Body lotion. This is my go-to lotion for all over use. It doesn't leave you feeling all sticky, and it's super smooth.

3. Mary Kay's Satin Hands/Feet set. The ones in the picture are part of the travel set, but I also have the large set. Perfect for getting those rough heels in shape....LOVE!

4. Arbonne's Seasource Sea Mud Face and Body Mask. I usually only use this on my face, but I've used it as a body mask too. I just hate sitting around waiting for it to dry. Unlike other face masks, this one doesn't leave your face dry and stiff!! Bonus: If you know someone who suffers from body acne, this is a great product.

5. Blue Spa Bubble Bath from Bath and Body Works. This is one of those products that you can pretty much buy anywhere...but I do like this brand cause it contains milk and oat protein to lock in moisture.

6. MK Signature Nail Polish. I'm VERY VERY picky about my nail polish, but I've never had a problem with Mary Kay's.

7. Sensual Massage Oil from Bath and Body Works. The PERFECT Valentine's Day gift!! Just saying! But it's also great to add in a splash to your bath water, and it smells amazing. I went with the Black Currant and Vanilla scent.

8. Olay Body Wash plus tone enriching ribbons. This is my everyday body wash, and I love it. I usually don't have a problem with dry skin in the winter, and it's all because of this product.

9. Gold Bond's Ultimate Softening Skin Therapy Cream w/ Shea Butter. The best lotion ever!! If you wash your hands constantly like me, you'll know how hard it is to keep them moisturized. I use this product right before I go to bed at night, and it keeps my hands smooth and soft ALL day long...LOVE IT!!

10. Arbonne's Awake Sea Salt Scrub. At least once a week I use this scrub while showering. It's perfect on really rough areas like elbows and knees, and also works as a great exfoliate.

11. Nicole Nail Polish by O.P.I. When I can't find a shade I like in Mary Kay's polish, I turn to O.P.I. They have a huge range of colors, and I've never had a problem with chipping!

12. Softening Cuticle Oil Stick. I found this one again at Bath and Body Works, but you can pretty much pick these up anywhere. They're great if you suffer from dry nails and cuticles.

So there you have it, all you'll ever need for a Spa-Day-In! Hope it's helpful to all you girls out there...or men, if you're into this kind of stuff!

And just because I'm feeling extra "confident" here's my favorite pose of the night!!

Casey News

I know you've all been anxiously awaiting new news of Casey, and I'm here to deliver!! Let me just say though, sometimes life can be VERY boring...especially on base. Casey's usual day consists of waking up at 3:30 AM (I KNOW...how awful), getting ready, eating breakfast, PTing, going to class, eating lunch, going back to class, getting out of school (and usually taking a nap), calling me!!!!, hanging out with friends, eating dinner, calling me again!!!,and going to bed early...WHEW!

Obviously, it can become very monotonous, but he's learned to rise above, and the weekends are a totally different story! Casey gets every other Friday off...and frankly those guys deserve it! He's got a good group of friends down there, and they spend the weekend playing video games, watching movies, scarfing down pizza, and shooting pool (along with other guy stuff I probably don't care to know about! Let's be honest, boys are weird and gross!).

You would think that after all those responsibilities, Casey wouldn't have time for anything else...WRONG! On Wednesday, Casey roped-up as a "White Rope".

White Ropes are basically Chaplin assistants. They hang out in the "fish bowl" (it's a multi-purpose building), and are there to support other airmen...pretty much being a brother to anyone and everyone! It's a perfect fit for Casey, he's always been a great listener and comrade.

But White Ropes also volunteer a lot too, and this was a huge bonus for Casey. He loves volunteering. So today, instead of sleeping in, he got up early to volunteer at the grade school on base. We're not exactly sure what he'll be doing, but he's hoping to get to play with all the kids at recess!

Side Note: Isn't my husband awesome!?! Don't you wish you had a guy like mine...who volunteers and plays with kids!?! Be jealous!!!!

So that's what's going on with Casey these days. He's pretty much become "Superman"!!!

On a more personal note, it seems like February is going to be a month of growing-closer for Casey and I. We might not be able to physically spend Valentine's Day together, but we are doing everything in our power to show each other affection and love...AWWW! I've got the best husband ever!!

till next time...

Assassin or Samaritan???

So I hadn't really planned on blogging about the weather. If you live in Kansas you already know how bad it is out there...and if you don't you probably watch the news enough to figure it out. I didn't want to add to the plethora of posts dedicated to telling you how "insanely cold" it was outside (especially since my goal is to stand out as a blogger...not follow the trends). And lets be honest, who really cares about other peoples views on "the crazy snow drifts".

Truth be told, the last few days I've hunkered down in my house, and the closest I've gotten to the outside world, is opening the back door to let my dogs do their business. But the plan was to get out today and shovel the driveway. All 800 sq. ft. (approx.) of it. I'd already done it twice before this last month, and knew tomorrow's sunny weather would be the best time.

Well, that was the plan anyway...until it got done for me! But let me take you back to last night, and what went down.

Since church was canceled last night, I made a date with myself, more accurately a girls-night (I'll try to post on that later). After taking a glorious long bath and painting my toe nails, I was getting ready to cook dinner in my jammies and hunker down to a chic flick. Thats when I started hearing it.

A scraping noise, coming from outside. I quickly registered it as shoveling, and figured my neighbors were doing a last min. tackle on their front walk. But it was too loud to be my neighbors (I know my walls are thin, but they aren't THAT thin!). So I started peaking around. That's when I saw him. THERE WAS A MAN IN MY DRIVEWAY...AND HE WAS SHOVELING IT CLEAN!!

Needless to say I flipped out. Peering out from behind my curtains, I thought of every possible scenario. Maybe it was some good Samaritan...or maybe they were digging out my drive to steal my car...or perhaps one of my neighbors was testing out their new snow shovel...any wild thought that could come to mind, did. Including, should I go get the baseball bat, and I'm gonna call the cops! That's when I spotted the "possible assassin/good Samaritan's" car.

It looked an awful lot like my father-in-laws truck...but I still wasn't convinced. I ran to my phone, dialed his #, and the first words out of my mouth were: "Lawrence, are you in my driveway?"
Long story short...Yep he was. At which point I proceeded to chew him out for scaring me half to death (you don't pull stuff like that on a girl who lives alone...especially not in the dark!).

He figured if he called, I would tell him not to worry about it...which is true. So he came up with the "brilliant" idea to sneak over and do it as a surprise. I don't think he factored in how loud shoveling a drive way is! But it certainly WAS a surprise! And he definitely was dedicated in it...I didn't want to shovel it in the sun yesterday...let alone doing it in the dark...CRAZY!!

But regardless of how crazy a night it turned out to be, I am really grateful for his thoughtfulness. It was very very considerate!! But fair warning to anyone else who ever wants to help me...CALL FIRST, or be prepared for one-splitting-headache from my bat!!!

Color My World

Today's post is all about color, (if you didn't guess that from the title already)! Before I get down to business, I have another crap-tastic picture of old to share with you...
It's not nearly as bad as the other rendering I showed you a few posts back, but still has some crazy-bad problems. Check out how HUGE I made all those bricks (not to mention the AWFUL color!). And don't even get me started on the importance of shading.

In fact, the only good thing about this drawing is the center tree, and it kinda steals the show (cause your eye is instantly drawn to it), which is a no-no when you're trying to showcase a house :(

Anyway, it goes without saying that I've tried to improve my coloring habits in the last 10 years! Like my last post, I've pinpointed some of the huge changes I've made:

Click on the picture to see a larger view

1. Highlights: Colored pencils can be your best friend...ESPECIALLY white. I use my white colored pencils on practically every part of a rendering. It's perfect for defining the edges of the house, and showing detail in the foliage.

2. Shading: I try to always layer my colors, because no object is ever just one color. There is shading and gradations in everything. So when I approach my roofs, it's not uncommon for me to throw in a small splash of purple or blue to add character. Don't be afraid to use color, but always make sure your color choices can blend smoothly together.

3. Reflections: Okay pretty obvious here. What does glass do? Reflect!! It's my final touch to all of my renderings. That punch of black in the glass and the background pulls everything together, and makes the rendering come alive!! Without it, the whole project would seem dull and light.

4. More reflections: Notice how the concrete picks up some of the blue from the sky! Also look how it reflects back part of the house. At first glance these little details aren't noticed, which means the whole rendering looks cohesive...YEAH!! That's when I know I've done my job right...when you have to REALLY study the drawing!

5. Diffusing: You wanna know the biggest difference between these two renderings. It's the steady diffusion of color. Unlike my earlier work, I realized that if I put my deepest, boldest colors towards the center of the rendering (mainly the house and immediate surround) that your eye is instantly drawn to those areas. This is why the trees in the background are darker next to the house than they are at the edge of the page! Same concept applies to the driveway and landscape. The point is to always draw the eye back towards the house.

Well that's it for now, I'll try to add in some other pointers along the way...and maybe even give you a preview of the materials I use.

Oh, and I know some of you have probably been wondering what's up with Casey these days, I'll try to work on a post soon to get you all caught up!

Starting with Black and White

I've learned over the years that if I wanted to have a good finished product, then I would need to perfect my penmanship before I even got to the color. Inking out a rendering is by far the most important part, even more important than the color choices I make (and I've made some really BAD color choices). It makes sense though, the ink is basically the bones of a drawing, and if the bones don't look good, nothing I place on top will look good.

So I've compiled a list of things that I've learned over the years, in regards to inking out a rendering. And I'm providing you with a handy-dandy cheat sheet (rendering) to follow along. Yeah!!


1. Depth: It's extremely important to show the surroundings and dimension in a drawing. Even if I'm drawing a one-point perspective drawing, I need to add depth. So foreground and background are key. But at the same time, I always want the viewers eye to be drawn directly to the home.

2. Dead Space: When I'm drawing I like to add in empty pockets (especially to the roof). This gives an overall more finished/polished look (weird, I know). And it also helps add in the idea of sun reflection in those areas.

3. Ink Dimension: This is probably the most crucial lesson I've learned. Not all lines are created equal. My job as an artist is to show you what needs to stand out. So the outline of the roof needs to be darker/thicker than the shingle hashing. The same concept applies to every other part of the house/drawing.

4. Reflection: All surfaces can be reflective, even the drive way. So I try to tie in all the individual elements with subtle reflections. This comes in a little more prominently when I get to the coloring phase of a rendering, but still plays a big role in the inking.

and last but not least...

5. Texture: Everything has texture. Whether that be smooth and sleek, or rough and bumpy...every surface has a feeling. The tricky part is showing that feeling. So look for texture in everything from stucco to concrete to glass!

I hope you've enjoyed my mini-tutorial! These lessons took me a long time to figure out...and even longer to pull together and put into practice! Lord knows, I wouldn't be the artist I am today without a LOAD of practice!!

Workin' 9 to 5

Come on...you all know the words!

Anyway, I thought today would be a great day to introduce you to some of my work. I bet a few of you out there in Blogland didn't even know that I worked! Heck, sometimes I forget too!!

I'm very fortunate to own a business that is more seasonal in nature than other companies. It gives me time to commit to other projects and family filled activities! But enough about all that...here's what I do:

I'm an artist who specializes in color renderings for residential and commercial use. Haven't heard of someone like me before? You're not alone! Most the time I'm met with confused looks when I tell people what I do. So it's so much easier showing people...then telling people!

If you're a Wichita native, then you'll know all about the Home Show that is coming up this next month (Feb.). I'll be there, helping out with my Dad's booth. He's a draftsman (so much easier to explain!), and it's because of him that I got started in the construction industry.

Nearly 10 years ago I started drawing for my Dad. Making presentations that he could present to clients. I wasn't that great back then. In fact, here is what my first few renderings looked like:

I know, major YIKES!! I usually cringe when I look back at these AWFUL photos. But I've been able to slowly perfect my skilz (that's right I just said skilz)!

So since I'm honed in on my work right now, it seemed only natural that I share some of my experience with you. These next few weeks I'll try to post some examples of the things I've learned over the years...as well as some more terrible blasts from the past!

Be prepared, some of them are doozies!

And if you're interested in a custom drawn house plan, check out my Dad's company at: www.rbdrafting.net