Post-Christmas Snapshots

Post-Christmas Snapshots

Monday, December 26, 2016

  

 This Christmas season truly has FLOWN by, just like it sadly does every year; but alas even in its ending it still holds many memories and continuations of past traditions that as always make it my FAVORITE time of the year! 

I have tried to savor every moment of this season by capturing it in pictures, baking cookies, throwing parties, wearing Christmas sweaters & all the red I can get my hands on, sitting by the fire, sipping cocoa, watching MANY Hallmark Christmas movies, staring at sparkling lights, wrapping presents in pretty paper, eating more sweets than I care to admit, and humming (more often singing) along to my favorite carols and Christmas songs.

We had a wonderful Christmas with our family. Our biggest Christmas celebration is always on Christmas Eve with my Dad's side of the family. This year we did something a little different.....instead of our typical Christmas dinner we had a HUGE breakfast spread for dinner! My Paw Paw's (my dad's dad who is 97) favorite meal is breakfast so we decided to serve that this Christmas Eve. With that, we all decided to wear matching pajamas by family since we were eating breakfast, which was extra fun and comfortable. After we ate,  we opened gifts, played white elephant, and then went on to play our traditional Bingo game on all the retro bingo cards we have collected over the years.

Christmas day we drove home to have our own family Christmas and then we headed out later that evening to drive down to Galveston to stay with my Grandparents in a condo for a few days. After that we will then head home for a day and then it is off to camp at our family farm for New Years.

I know the rest of this month will fly by, so I am trying to soak in the last bit of 2016 and the December season. However, I have decided that I might just drag out Christmas for a few more days in January.....

How was your Christmas?
What was your favorite memory from Christmas?

-Madison

MASTERPIECE

MASTERPIECE

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Skirt: Thrifted 

Shirt: Target

Shoes: Cato's (this season) 

Purse: Vintage (COACH)

Necklace/Earings: Walmart 

Lipstick: Rimmel London Katie 01

"The greatest masterpieces were once only pigments on a palette." 

- Henry S. Hoskins 

I often look at portraits and masterpieces skilfully created and painted by the greats and wonder what was going through their mind. What was the spark inside of them that inspired such beautiful works of art? However, I have only to look at the world around me and see my reflection in the mirror to know exactly what must have been going through the artists mind! Art is brought forth by ideas, by passion, inspiration, the need to fill a void in life and by love of the artist for the art. In order to be art the artist must love it dearly, otherwise he will start over again until it is perfectly as he imagined in his head. Other times the artist might create something that he is not that proud of or different from the norm but he will let the onlookers be the judge. 

Then again, there are times I look at a masterpiece, or so called masterpiece simply because of the name that is scribbled in the bottom corner, and wonder "What was the artist thinking?" There are those works of art that in themselves are bizarre, completely uncaptivating, full of strangely sized people and misproportionate objects. When I look at those works of art, that in my own mind seem completely worthless or void of true talent and mastery, I realize that the artist must have known what he is doing and evidently so if the piece is in a gallery.....it might not be a work that everyone likes, but the artist loves it and there are others that might appreciate it to. 

The thing is, we are just like all of those great and valuable masterpieces that line the walls in museum gallery rooms for all eyes to see. We are masterpieces in and of ourselves. Granted, we might think our lives are a complete mess, that the artist simply mixed all the paint together and threw it on a canvas, but to the artist that mixed up painting was inspired by passion and love. To the artist that piece is a masterpiece and priceless even when others do not always think it is worth looking at. Just because an ancient statue has no arms doesn't mean it is not perfect. Just because a portrait of someone is geometrically out of proportion and oddly ugly doesn't mean the artists didn't see a beautiful work of art in and of itself staring back at him with eyes full of life! You are a masterpiece created by the ultimate creator and most famous and well known artist in the ENTIRE WORLD!! 

You are valuable because of who you are....because of your height, color, size, likes, dislikes, smile, frown, laugh.....everything! The creator of the universe created you out of his favorite colors and blended them to perfection until he captured the image in his mind.....he created you as a work of art because you were inspired by his passion and abounding love! You are part of a life long masterpiece being painted in the timeline of existence every day.....the signature on your life is all that matters and is all that should ever define you! The colors of your painting, the size of your figure, the expression that tells who you are......those are not what defines your masterpiece, it is the artist behind it! Therefore, live life knowing you are one of a kind....you are valuable.....you are treasured......and your life is a work of art because the artist painted it with love. 

_____________________________________________________________

Well that sure turned out to be a bit long, but it was soooooooooooo worth it! I had those words floating around in my head all this week and I couldn't wait to get them down into sentences. These pictures were taken a few weeks ago over my spring break. You might remember me talking about visiting the art museum and that is where these were taken! This day was actually the maiden voyage of my 50mm 1.8 camera lens and boy did it make all the difference when capturing these images inside.:) 

This day was such fun, spending it with two of my dear friends (pictures above), my mom, and my sister. It had been around 7 years since I had visited the art museum and it was so lovely going back and basking in the portraits and paintings of all the great artists! 

Of course, knowing that I would be visiting the art museum meant I was brainstorming for a week on what ensemble I should wear. Therefore, since the art museum is located in the elegant and high end portion of the museum district of the city (Houston) I thought it was the perfect occasion to embrace my inner chic city fashionista with a simple and classic look inspired by life in the uptown part of the city. I chose to pair my midi classic pleated black skirt with an even more classic white and black/grey striped quarter length shirt. To complete the look I chose to wear my tan pointed toe sued ankle buckle shoes and my vintage coach purse. All in all I loved how the look came together and it went so well with all of the paintings :) 

What are your thoughts on your life being a masterpiece? 

Have you ever been to an art museum? 

What would you wear to an art museum? 

-Madison

Not Typical

Not Typical

Monday, December 14, 2015

Shirt: Thrifted
Sweater: Thrifted
Shoes: Thrifted
Socks:Forever21
Skirt: Forever21
Belt:Thrifted
Necklace: Me Made (Hobby Lobby)

Okay, okay, so not my typical blog post but I wanted to play around with my new camera remote, take a picture of my latest thrift store shoe find, and capture the Christmas magic of this necklace! Plus.....I also wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas right around the corner, thought here in Texas we are still waiting for the cold! 

My Fall semester is FINALLY over so now is my time to catch up on sewing projects, get to work on some of the exciting blog posts I have been holding off for the holidays, go shopping, spend time with friends back home from college, watch WAY TO MANY Christmas movie, listen to Christmas music, and spend time with family. My break will be filled nearly every day and as soon as Christmas is past our family is off to Branson Missouri for a lovely vacation which I will be sure to document and share with you all. 

However, what are your plans for Christmas? I hope you at least have cold weather....I am so jealous of all you who have already seen snow! 

Until later this week / weekend when better pictures are captured:)

Also....I am really in a mood to write Christmas cards, so if you would like to receive a Christmas card from me just email me you address at: sweetsidecupcakes@hotmail.com