For this special little girl, I made a little name plate. Most of the time I paint the name and info on wood, but I knew I would be shipping it across the country, so I went with canvas. This was 11x14. The nursery colors weren't decided, but my friend said she liked brown and pink, so I obviously went with that all the way.

I decided to add more than just the name and text, and for some reason a little bird in a nest seemed what I thought represented a little girl, babies, and I put a few eggs in there too. To keep the pink/ brown theme, I made the graphics monochromatic with the brown. My niece was watching me paint and said: "Brown leaves! Jessica! What are you thinking?!!" So hopefully the affect looks good once it's all done.

I loved the middle name Elise, so I squeezed it in beneath in chocolate. I really liked the way it looked in lower-case letters.

This canvas isn't framed, I just painted the edges the burnt umber brown. Other canvases I've painted I just hang with the border. This painting is small enough, she could also put in on a shelf or in a bookcase, espeically if the walls are painted pink or something.