The Painted Pixie

Just a heads up that I am closing up shop & not taking on any more customized sports balls orders for the Summer! I have a handful of orders that are still on deck, and those will all still be completed, but I’m focusing on enjoying my Summer with my 4 kids & setting up my new Art classroom for next year. Thank you for literally HUNDREDS of orders & always keeping me in mind for all of your fun side projects.

**Don’t panic- I’ll be back in full swing again in October, ready to take on all of your custom requests!

What a fun afternoon painting faces with my buddy Tanitra () at the 2026 NHL Draft at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The weather was beautiful & we had such a great time! Thanks for having me- let’s do it again soon!

As a creative person, it’s so difficult to put your work out there. It feels intimidating and incredibly vulnerable & I am constantly struggling with imposter syndrome. Do I call myself an artist or is that too presumptuous? What if I’m not good enough even though this is what I feel like I was made to do? What if no one likes my work? The list could go on and on. BUT, I’m here to tell you that I’ve decided to paint again. Not to force it, not to “make” anything specific, not even to sell anything necessarily. Just to get back to creating. I’ve missed it- craved it, really. The face painting and custom sports balls have been fun and a great outlet for me these last 2yrs, but this summer I’m focusing on creating art again. So here’s my first completed acrylic painting: “Early Morning Light”. Is it done? Maybe. Is it - overworked? Possibly. But I’m proud of myself for carving out time to do it.

Watches a YouTube video about chalk artists and immediately says to myself “I could totally do that.” I guess I’ll just ignore the piles of laundry waiting to be folded on my couch while I hyper-fixate on my new obsession.🫣 What should I draw next?

School is out & Summer is finally here. Between teaching, momming (is that a verb?), and all of my recent custom sports ball orders, I hadn’t just sat down and created something in awhile & I was really craving it. I was inspired by .yancone to stop making excuses and just make it happen- even with a toddler in the house. My husband bought me this easel off of Facebook marketplace a few weeks back & today I got to properly break it in. Why is it so therapeutic to slap some paint on a canvas? I think this is going to be my happy place this Summer!

I wanted to make something extra special for the hallway for the end of school… it was sweet to hear all the kids’ reactions!

So proud of the OA Lady Hornets today who took home the 2026 Class D STATE title- the first in school history! I had several orders for custom softballs for this team when they won their division, but I held off making them because I had a feeling about this team & today they did it!! Many of these young ladies were also on the varsity girls basketball team that went undefeated 20-0 this season (also under the same coach). Way to go girls- what a year! I’m offering discounted custom softballs for the Lady Hornets softball team to commemorate their winning season on orders placed before 6/19. Let me know if you are interested!

I got a very special delivery this morning from my sweet buddy, John! John is 7 and he’s such a little entrepreneur already. He’s saving up his dollars to go to see the football hall of fame someday. He has a 3D printer and he sews- a jack of all trades! He made me these special keychain lanyards to hold my classroom keys & he did such a great job! Give his page a follow and go see him out at the Bergen Park Fest today with the other kid entrepreneurs from 1-2:30(or until sold out!). It’s his first vendor event, so make sure to show him some love and let’s help get this kid to the Hall of Fame!

Probably one of my favorite custom baseballs so far… LGM!

I have been shadowing in the art room since March: observing, helping, learning, listening. My lead teacher has shared all of her tips, systems & organization. I helped with the Art Show. I know where things are kept, I know where the keys are for the storage closet with the old school rolling library ladder (think Beauty & the Beast), and I know which rooms have air conditioning that I can duck into on a sweltering day for two minutes to catch my breath. I have gotten to know the other teachers & all of the students by name and slowly earn their trust and respect. I feel like I have my feet solidly under me for next year & i am excited to take over the K-6 art teacher role next week as the current teacher retires. I’m so grateful for this new opportunity and this school! You may look at these “happy little crabs” and just see kids’ artwork, but when i look at them, I see the first lesson I got to plan & teach, the sweet little first grade faces who made them, and a whole lot of dreaming and excitement for next year!