Happy 20th Anniversary My Love!

20 years ago, on July 25, 1992, these two kids decided it would be a good idea to tie the knot. Get hitched. Unite in beautiful matrimony.

To this day they are still dancing.

(even through the arthritis)

Still making good decisions not to smear each other with food.

Still laughing.

Still having mutual conversations like,

 "Hey you ready to blow this joint and go make some beautiful babies together?"

And still locking lips and making their beautiful babies go "Eeeew Mom! Dad! Get a room!'

Happy 20th Anniversary my love!

~Mrs. Amber D. McNabb

Sweet Baby Portrait!

I recently had the privilege to create a portrait of this sweet precious baby boy. If you don't crack a smile when you look at this fella then something is wrong with you. Very wrong. See a doctor immediately.

Look at his little fingers on the ball! He just might grow up to be an all star pitcher one day. The whole time I was creating this portrait I was wishing I could squish him up and hold his little feets and play "this little piggy" and listen to him giggle. I just love baby portraits!  

To see my portrait gallery and/or request a portrait click HERE or the "Portraits By Hand" tab at the top of this page.

~Amber D. McNabb

A Day On The Lake

Once a month I get to spend the day on the lake with my hubby. He convinced me to join his fishin club and I am officially a tournament fisherlady. We get so share beautiful, quiet mornings surrounded by this.

Well, quiet that is, until my hubby and his buddies in the next boat decide to start talking smack to one another. Isn't fishin supposed to be a quiet sport? 

You know, the kind of quiet where I get pout when the fish aren't biting and lay my head down for a mid morning and pre afternoon and post afternoon nap?

And snap some photos of interesting natural formations such as this rock that looks like a bullfrog. 

And my future lakeside home.

And an oncoming river barge.

Ahoy mateys!

 That is the correct use of nautical verbiage yes?

While I was fishing, no I cannot tell a lie,  I mean while I was hiding  under an umbrella so as not to melt in the scorching sun, a swarm of mayflies attacked me...

..........I mean paid me a visit. Aren't they...er...um...cute?

Dale came by and busted my non fishing self  hiding under an umbrella and proceeded to tell me that I might very well be the smartest person out on the lake and then he proceeded to head to the dock cause he was melting too. 

It was a nice peaceful day on the lake and my hubby caught four of these which won the tournament and since we are a team I can proudly say WE won. Didn't WE honey? Yes WE did.

~Amber D. McNabb

Finding Beauty in Today's World

If you just take a moment to look, I mean REALLY look beyond the obvious, you can find beauty everywhere. Like here at the Walmart, beyond the hot concrete, cars and parking lot lights, you can see a gorgeous sky at sunset.

Ok Now you try. 

If you look, I mean REALLY look......do you see it?

 YES! Right in front of that beautiful midday sky is a GLORIOUS Michaels Art and Craft Store!

Ok let's try again.......can you see it?

Look closer........

YES! Underneath all that black frosting is a cutie pie toofless little precious boy of mine.

HAPPY WEEKEND!

~Amber D. McNabb

He Makes My Heart Proud

I can't get over the creative brain of my Rileyman. It just warms my heart ever so! He is ALWAYS creating something even with the most basic of supplies. Like this here warrior armor "get up" to help him slay monster dragons. 

And just recently he went through his wildlife book of birds and made replicas complete with nests and eggs and placed them all over outside. 

Cardinal

Yellow Finch

And this here is a Downy Woodpecker.  

Did I say how much I love his brain?

 His older brother Devyn (AKA Dadu) was pretty artistic when he was this age but he is 19 now and I'm certain there may or may not be an unwritten, unspoken rule against me posting all his Pokemon drawings. Or is there? I will have to think on it. Anyhoo where was I? Oh yes the Rileyman and his creativity.

 It seems to bring out the creative side in everyone. 

Hello there Elijah you cutie pie sweet little boy.

Riley's buddy Elijah dug into the art supplies and made a picture for his Daddy who is currently serving our country. Thank you Elijah's Daddy!! And thank you Elijah's Mommy for raising this sweet precious boy.

And here is MY sweet precious boy preparing a hand made birthday card for his little cousin Sidney who just turned 3.

Have I said yet how much he warms my heart? 

I just love this kid. 

A really REALLY lot.

~Amber D. McNabb

Romantical Dreaming In The Country

I went for a ride out to the McNabb farm with my honey this evening. We drove to the top of the hill at sunset. It was peaceful and romantical. 

Me: Honey this is where I want my future house to be. Right here on top of this hill.

Mikeywade: No. This is where all my deer stands are. 

Me: But you can hunt at the bottom of the hill too. And in the holler. You can plant food plots.

Mikeywade: How exactly do you think you are going to get water on top of this hill?

Me: I. Uh. It could happen.

The deer were absolutely everywhere by the way.

But come to think of it, I did not see one deer on top of that hill.

Excuse me while I go relay that message to my honey.

~Amber D. McNabb

June Bug On A String

I have this little June bug, I put him on a string.

I tied it to his buggy leg and not his little wing.

Why his leg? I'll tell you why. So I could watch my June bug fly.

If you think it's kinda ruthless, perhaps it's cause I'm kinda toothless. 

But June buggy bug, can you tell my why you are called a June bug? Cause it's July.

It doesn't matter cause in the end.....

June buggy bug, you're my bestest friend. 

~Amber D. McNabb

Crafty Supplies for the Kiddos!

My cousins, Josh and Missy, are mission workers for orphans and abandoned children in Romania. A few months ago they posted photos on their blog of the children making crafts-n-such. I asked them if they needed any supplies and they responded that they were in need of paper plates. Apparently paper plates are a hot commodity for crafting there. So I sent the word out that I would be gathering paper plates and crafty supplies and thanks to my coworkers and friends of awesomeness I was able to ship out nearly 2000 paper plates to the kiddos in Romania today!

Along with the plates there are 4 boxes of crayons, 4 pads of construction paper, 30 small chunky markers, 80 long skinny markers and 975 stickers! 

The nice postman fella was extremely helpful and got everything safely packaged for me. 

He even let me write a little message on the box.

Please take a moment to say a prayer for Josh and Missy who are unselfishly sharing God's love with those sweet precious kiddos half way around the world!

~Amber D. McNabb

Hearts, thyroids and critters...Oh my!

I've learned a lot about health lately. Like broken heart syndrome is a true medical condition. Lack of potassium in your blood can mess with your heart rhythm. And when your thyroid is not working properly, it can truly jack up your world...medically speaking. And while I have more medical testing and blood sucking to endure, Color Of Dawn Creations on Etsy will be closed and I will no longer be taking custom orders. But I still have little creative projects to keep my mind and fingers busy.


 I have some inspirational photo cards in the works  to raise money for my cousins Josh and Melissa in Romania.  

My new obsession for making Tree of Life pendants. It's like trimming bonsai trees. There are no rules. I channel my inner Mr Miyagi , free my mind and the trees just kind of take on their own shape.

Of course there is always The Rileyman to keep me busy with his daily comedy and critters of summer.

And then there is the book that I am illustrating that I am not allowed to talk about but I really want to talk about but I cannot talk about. Until January 2013 that is at which time I will fully explode with details! 

~Amber D. McNabb