She Made Me Do It...

Since I do have rights to post on this blog (even though it's very rare)...I'm gonna go ahead and post clarifying that Jill made me post that video. I probably would have kept it hidden away in the privacy of my own collection of ridiculous videos I've made (hello scrappy head!), but I guess it's the gift that keeps on giving. I think she probably screamed and giggled all over again.
Also wanted to shout out and say that y'all are awesome for supporting and encouraging my mom and my sisters in their artwork. They are pretty amazing!
It has been drawn to my attention that there have been some requests to hear some of my music. I'm definitely going to work on that! I promise.
If y'all want to check out my blog and see what I do...I just posted about a conference that I helped lead worship for. Truly an amazing experience.

THE Best Christmas Present, Possibly, Ever.

I'm going to depart from the usual things we post about on this blog because I just HAD to share this with all of you. For Christmas, the youngest thing with winger (who lives in Austin) surprised us other "things" with quite possibly THE best Christmas gift ever. She went to a book signing of the Pioneer Woman's new cookbook, stood in line with her friend Wendy for HOURS, got autographs, and get this: VIDEO TAPED THE WHOLE GOSH DARN THING. All this despite the fact that they'd worked all day, and had no idea who PW was (can you believe they actually admitted this to PW's face! oh the horror!) Believe me - they know now!!!

Emily gave us our presents by having us sit down and watch the video all together. We had no idea what it was about, but when we realized, I'm not ashamed to admit there was screaming.... aaaaand squealing.....aaaand maybe just a little bit of heavy breathing....of the purely platonic variety of course. It was the grown woman's equivalent of seeing the New Kids on the Block as a junior high girl. So without further ado I bring you, "Emily and Wendy on a Mission:"

Pioneer Woman from Emily Ward on Vimeo.

Marlboro Man's signature:

Ree/PW wants me to "enjoy (heart)" her book :-)

So how many of you out there are Pioneer Woman Fans? Who's got her cookbook? What recipe is your favorite? ....Do you think I'm a crazy fan and have no idea who PW is? It's ok to think I'm a little crazy but go check PW out and come back and thank me when you get hooked!

OWOH Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner! The random number generator picked number 73!!!! Comment #73 was left by Nicole from Glendale, Arizona! Congratulations, Nicole! This heart flower will be headed your way soon!!! We've really enjoyed participating in the One World One Heart event. We got to visit blogs from all over the world and were thrilled by all of the new visitors who stopped by to visit us. Lots of fun!

Everything Etsy

The heart flower below from the Paper Prayer's Etsy shop is being featured in the "Sweet Gallery" at Everything Etsy! Go check it out! Thanks Kim!

Art Night and Wine Tasting

Here's the cute little coffee place where our event was held last night:Here's our little set up:













Our friend Keri of Creative Genius Art had some great old windows that she'd painted on, plus all of these great little things:
We had a fun time hanging out with Keri, even though sales were slow. We ended the night with a jump start while Green Girl snickered about my general lack of car knowledge and took our picture. Thanks to Keri and some random guy, or I'd be there still!

**A winner will be chosen tonight for the OWOH giveway (finally! were you like me and thought it was NEVER going to end?! :-) But you can still enter here, through 10pm CST tonight. A winner will be chosen tonight and I'll post the winner tomorrow morning!

Preschool Valentine

My favorite kind of valentine! Amazed at the hard work, warmed my heart, tickled me pink.

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow's the Art Event and Local Wine Tasting at Just Jill's Espresso in Lisbon, Iowa. We'll be there from 4-8pm. If you're local, we'd love it if you came out for a little fun! Bring your sweetheart, and make him buy you a lil' sumpin' sumpin' for Valentine's Day! Or bring your girlfriends for a ladies night out! Looking forward to it!

Scarf Winner, where are you?

Does anyone out there know "Big Mama Tammy"? She was the winner of my scarf give-away and I have not heard from her. Several attempts to reach her have apparently failed. Are you still following us, Tammy? If I haven't heard from her this week, I will draw another name from those who left comments before. Keep checking in with us to see what happens!!!

House Special Order

Here's a recent special order I did. This one uses their home colors of chocolate brown, khaki, white, black, and deep red and their request to incorporate a cross. So much fun to do!

Raise Your Hand If You Can Relate.

(My hand is raised.)

It's February!

And LOVE is in the air! We're getting ready for a show we told you about earlier. We hope that you local peeps will come out for a little fun and a little wine. Here are some directions:
And here's a little sneak peek of some new things that will be for sale:

MY OWOH giveaway is still going strong through February 14. If you haven't entered yet, go here! Also, it looks like we're one away from reaching our 200th facebook fan! Who's it going to be?! SO exciting!

One World One Heart GIVEAWAY!!!!

***This drawing is now closed as of 10 pm CST February 14. A winner will be announced tomorrow morning.

Last year I came across the One World One Heart giveaway event days after it had ended. THIS YEAR I'm ready for it! One World One Heart started in 2007 and unites hundreds, (maybe thousands this year,) of bloggers from all over the world - each one hosting their own giveaway! It's a chance to meet new bloggers and possibly win something along the way!

All you have to do to win my giveaway is leave a comment on THIS post, along with a way to contact you - your email or your blog. It's open to all of you new folks joining us for the first time, AND all of you loyal followers! You may enter just once and the cut off time for entering is February 14 at 10 pm CST. A winner will be announced on February 15.

So...what will you win? In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm giving away this mixed - media heart flower!

It's made from scrap wood, paint and patterned paper and measures 5 1/2 x 12 inches. It has a saw tooth hanger on the back and will be signed by me! Some of you may recognize this piece as one I recently just added to my etsy shop - and you'd be right! Don't worry though, there's still 5 more similar ones still listed. (see below.)

While you're here, we'd like to introduce ourselves. We are a family of artists who live in Iowa City. We love to laugh, create, and have good times together. Our mixed media artwork is full of hope, humor and whimsy. We recognize that our creative talents are precious gifts from God and we are thankful every day that we get to share them with all of you! We'd be thrilled if you'd stay and look around awhile - and we'd love to keep in touch via our facebook fan page!

If you're interested in hosting your own giveaway or entering some of the other ones, go visit here. Thanks for stopping by!

***Please enter only once - your comment will not be visible until we've viewed them.

Last of the Love Stuff

Here's the last of the LoVe StuFF. Available now! (click on each image for more info.)
It only takes 2-3 business days to receive your purchase!

Heart Flowers

I'm still busy adding new "Love" inspired items to the Paper Prayers Etsy Shop. Valentine's Day is just around the corner - but since we use priority mail, packages arrive in 2-3 business days! Still more heart flowers to come as well as some "LOVE-ly" houses!

(Click on each image above for more pictures, info and dimensions about each item!)

Awesome News:

For all of you friends who have been praying for the little Haitian boy, Amos who we told you about earlier here and here. The Ivey Family brought him home yesterday!!! Welcome Home, Buddy! GoD iS GoOd, aLL tHe TiMe!

(There's even a quick shot of the Youngest Thing with Winger, Emily, hugging Jamie in the airport and bawling her eyes out! (She's holding a friend's baby.)