Reality check and heart gifts...

Well, today was a reality check for me. We had a free health screening at work and as I expected, my numbers weren't good. Let's see, I need to lose weight, lower my cholesterol and lower my blood pressure (though not too bad). Luckily the only real good news I got was that my blood sugar was fine. :~) So, I've got to get it together and come up with a plan to exercise regularly as well and take some weight off! Again, nothing that I didn't already know but seeing the numbers was what I needed to motivate me. I wanted to post some of the things I've painted in class and on my own through Sandy's inspiration. :~) So, each day I'll share a few of the pictures with you. These were things I did for Valentine's Day/Week.

I painted this pretty palm tree on a little box for my Mom while she was in the hospital. Her living room is decorated with tropical decor so this will fit in perfectly.

I painted this little flower box for my Aunt. She and my Uncle are always so gracious and welcome our family with open arms whenever we visit. I wanted to be sure I painted her something special and had painted something similar on a gift bag for a friend. It's so colorful and so easy to do.

I painted this little box for my Grandmother last weekend. My Grandmother, as well as the rest of my family, are always so supportive of everything that I do and my painting is no exception. She and my Aunt watched me paint at her kitchen table and I enjoyed sharing my passion for painting with them.

When I found out that my Mom had a stroke I was waiting on additional information and trying to figure out when I could leave to go see her. I came home and started painting to try to relieve some stress and ended up painting these little boxes for my friends at work for Valentine's Day. I lined the box with pink tissue paper and filled them with conversation hearts. I think each of the recipients felt special because I made all of them different. Some turned out better than others but they were all painted from my heart and painting them helped me get through the difficult evening.

I painted on these cute little water bottles filled with candy for my cousins children. They came out pretty cute. I would have done the bumble bee a little differently but not bad for my first attempt. I painted the frog from a magnet that my Aunt had on her refrigerator.

I'm looking forward to the weekend to get caught up on some things around the house. No painting this weekend until I walk each day and get some cleaning done! :~(