More Nigel Please -

Those People

Misty bought a groupon last fall for a session with a local photographer. She meet us in the trendy, revamped art district and we just walked around and found cool stuff to get some pics. We got this is as a canvas print for our home and it's one of my fav's. Check her out here http://www.christinalundeen.com/ , she's a great person to work with.

Summer of 2010 we took Ki to Chicago on his first real vacation along with airplanes, taxis, subways, city buses, and pirate boats. He had an absolute blast and still brings it up from time to time. When we got to the hotel we just wanted to take a while and decompress, and this is how my kids kicks it at 21 floors up.



So those two people are mine, if you see them don't touch them because they are mine. The only two things I won't share....well, those two and a funnel cake.....and a spoon, spoons are nasty.

Paint It Black

A while back we redesigned a spare guest room in our house and went with a black and white scheme. It's a work in progress and I wanted some one off art to go in there, and who better to make this happen than a 5 year old ( 4 at the time ). I gave him a black foam core board and white craft paint and said get after it. Kids art, to me, is the most amazing art there is. They just go for it and the thoughts and ideas just pour out. I have always said that if I were to build my own dream home I would have a 100' hallway lined with kids art. How cool would that be. 

I Got TOMS

Have you heard of TOMS shoes. Here is the story behind them:

"In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers."   http://www.toms.com/our-movement/

Well I got a pair for Christmas and they are a really comfortable and simple shoe. I like the idea behind them and I'd like to think that I put a pair of shoes on some kids feet that isn't as fortunate as some of us are. How will you wear yours?

It's Evolution Baby

This is going to be a killer year for PJ fans, just be patient.

Champagne Breakfast For Everyone

Front label :

This is the label I made for my father in law's wine collection. We are going to add the different names of the fruit used to the label as they are bottled so you know exactly what you are getting yourself into. Printed on the right card stock or parchment paper it almost looks like a real life production winery, who knows maybe one day it will be.

Back label:

Have A Drink And Smile

 

Two years ago my father in law started making his own wine. Over the past two years of experimentation and research and hundreds of opinionated wine "connoisseur's" he is starting to find his niche. The brews are made from mid missouri fruits such as blackberries, wild plums, and grapes from a vineyard of a family friend. I have to admit that he is starting to make quite a name for himself in the small community where they live.

This past summer my in laws added on a new garage and a small cellar where he will be able to keep his stock, brew new batches, and my least favorite part....taste testing. For you see taste testing requires many little paper cups filled up with sweet and delicious wine, fresh out of the glass tanks in which they are made. This makes for a fun few hours, but as time passes you start to forget your whereabouts, you start to forget about that 7 a.m. tee time, and if you stick around long enough you start to forget how to put full sentences together. You see what I'm getting at right?

A few weekends ago my wife and I go to visit and I walk in on this 20' long cabinet that use to belong in an old bar in some old small town where old men probably sat around and grumbled about old cows or old cars or old wives. This thing is AMAZINGLY AWESOME!!!! It was a purplish color (could have been a topic that the old men grumbled about) that my father in law, with a little help, sanded down a little bit and added the compartments that will hold the wine that he crafts. I thought it needed to look like a piece that has been handed down through generations of italian wine makers, thrown on a cargo ship, and after changing trucks a few dozen times delivered to the new wine cellar. I added a distressed black over the whole piece while letting some of the history show through. I think it turned out really nice and as it gets banged around it will just add to the charm. I won't tell you what he paid for this, but lets just say it changed hands over a cup of genenral store coffee.

I hope to add more pictures as the production and inventory grows, until then have a drink on me.