September 28, 2012

A Little Tent


When I was little I spent hours building the perfect tent. It would only consist of about three or four bed sheets, but I thought we were pros at making them. This painting is a work in progress with that playful tent memory in mind. I hope to be finished with it by next week.

Do you have wonderful weekend plans ahead? We've been under the weather over here, so it'll be recouping time for us.

September 27, 2012

A Painted Haircut?

A few weeks ago, I painted Whispers of Fall. Then weeks passed and I went for a spur-of-the-moment haircut. Being in a rush today, I let my hair do it's own thing. I caught a glimpse of it later in the bathroom and thought it looked oddly familiar.
Could I have subconsciously painted how I wanted my hair? Or perhaps the painting inspired the cut? Who knows, but it's sort of...interesting.

September 26, 2012

Swirly Stamps

I've gone a little stamp-making crazy lately. I saw a kit at the craft store and decided to give it a go. 
I'm constantly wanting little background snippets without having to paint every single one and don't always want to rely on scrapbook paper or ready-made stamps. Making your own stamps is easy to do and fun! Now that the bug has hit me, I hope to create an enormous stamp collection!

What would you enjoy a stamp of?

P.S. Do you love my Hello Kitty earphones? They were a gift from my sister and I adore them!!

September 25, 2012

Polyvore Palette: Pumpkin

Pumpkin Palette

Pumpkin Palette by wingedwriter featuring crepe pants

These colors have been creeping into my paintings a bunch lately. I thought it'd be fun to share my palette polyvore style. :) As you already know, I'm pretty crazy about Autumn and any excuse I get to use the beautiful leaf-inspired colors, I do. 

I love layers (pretty obvious, huh?). The more I can pile on, the happier I feel. I think it makes me feel tucked in and safe. I'm especially crazy about scarves. I usually have an extra one hidden in my purse so if I get chilly I can  cover up. It's also handy if I want to dress up a casual outfit in a hurry.

What is one of your favorite must-haves for fall?

P.S. Today's P's birthday (my middle daughter). Happy Birthday sweet girl! We're pampering her today. :D


September 24, 2012

Craft Book Crush: Painted Pages


As I've said before, I'm a bit of a how-to junkie. I absolutely love craft/art books that show new tricks and beautiful artwork. Painted Pages by Sarah Ahearn Bellemare, took my breath away. Not only does Sarah give useful tips and inspiration, but her gorgeous artwork is displayed on many of the pages. It's almost like a piece of art in itself. She has such a beautiful airy look to her work with an effortless depth.


September 21, 2012

Beware of Cuteness


This painting was inspired by an adorable daughter of a friend. The sweet girl could get away with almost anything when I keep her, especially when she flashes her precious smile.

September 20, 2012

Photo-an-Hour

7:00 Plan blog posts and note what I need photos of.
8:00 The girls leave for school, time for coffee and juice.
 9:00 Get started on vocabulary with my son.
 10:00 Still playing around with my hair. Tried curling the bangs today.
11:00  I catch up on emails and twitter while my son works. Love school on the couch!
12:00 Lunch time. He gets a sandwich, I get V-8 "soup" and finish off the orange juice (liquids only today).
 1:00 We work on projects or chores in the afternoon. My project includes markers.
2:00 Contemplate painting supplies for my upcoming craft show.
3:00 Sneak in some reading while waiting to pick up the girls.
4:00 Time to help with homework. I think I dread it more than they do.
5:00 Pasta for dinner.
6:00 I hate shopping, but promised P we'd go tonight. She makes it fun.
 7:00 I actually found a couple of cute skirts on big clearance. P used that to remind me shopping can be fun. Okay, okay, I suppose it can be sometimes.

What are you doing today?


September 19, 2012

5 Great Posts on Time Management


Time management seems to allude me these days. If I'm managing one side of life well, it seems the other side gets off balance. So in my pursuit of getting better at it, I discovered some wonderful posts. Here are five great posts on time management:

1. Ask Elsie and Emma: On Time Management by A Beautiful Mess.

2. Balance: Tips For Scheduling a Productive Week by Maiedae.

3. Coffee Cup Chats: The Unbalancing Act (Part One) by Life as an Artistpreneur.

4. Four Tips on Managing Your Creative Time by CraftyDad @ Handmadeology

5. Simple [but valuable] Tips to Juggle Business + Life @ GussySews

What have you found helpful in balancing life?

September 18, 2012

Straight from the ART, Vol. 2

Sara in the Kitchen ~ Lisa Graham

Today I'm shining the artist spotlight on Lisa Graham. I looove the cozy feel of Lisa's paintings. She takes inspiration from her personal history, like old pictures of her mother and grandmother (above), and brings them to life. She weaves unexpected surprises in her mixed media paintings and isn't afraid of using imagination. I've had the privilege of becoming friends with Lisa through blogging. She has an encouraging spirit and a genuine heart that shines through in her work. I hope you'll check out her beautiful gallery.

Do you love looking through old pictures and discovering the story within?

September 17, 2012

{sort of} Loving Lately: New Hair


Okay, full disclosure: I cut it...not sure I love it. I do love that the long hair is gone. But I may need to tweak this "do" a bit. My hairdresser cut it just like I showed her, picture in hand. However I think my hair is too thick for the cut I wanted, even after being thinned. Instead of laying down straight and piece-y, it tucks. It sort of looks like bowl-cut. *grimace*

Yeah.

So I played around with it, letting my natural wave shine through and added a few curls. Oh, and I colored it too. You know, pumpkin everything. Haha. Not really, but yes, I colored it. Maybe I just need some time to adjust, but it feels heavy on top. Think I want a more tapered look but I'm going to hang with this a little while and see if I like it better after a few days. Thanks for all your help in choosing a hairstyle; it may be difficult to tell in these pictures, but I ended up going with the first one.

What are you loving lately?

September 14, 2012

Change of Season, Change of Hair



source                                                   source

I'm dying to cut my hair. I'm thoroughly sick to death of it. My impulse is to royally chop it like in the first picture. But to keep from being too quick on the draw; I added the lower hairstyles. The three styles have one theme in common, bangs--I want them.

What's your favorite of the three?

September 13, 2012

5 Great Posts on Doing It All


We all aspire to do the impossible, to achieve it all. But is that attainable? Is it healthy? Here are five great posts about doing it all:

1. Defining "It All" by Catherine Gillespie.

2. The Myth of Doing It All by Mom101.

3. I Don't Do It All by Tiny Twig.

4. Getting the Help You Deserve by Lisa Bacon @ Oh My!

5. You Can Do Anything for 30 Days. Or 365. by Jen McCaffery @ Rhode Island Monthly

I'm sure each of us have a different set of "all" that we're doing. Some of mine are blogging, caretaking, mothering, teaching, painting and wife-ing; what are some of yours?

{You might also like: 5 Great Posts on Finding Your Niche}

September 12, 2012

Creativity Does Extraordinary Things

I have my grandmother this week. She doesn't talk much anymore. But I decided to try some new things this time. I wanted to give her easy projects we could do together. The first day I read her a picture book and it was precious because she laughed. I haven't heard that laugh in so long.
Today I laid out a simple coloring page of a house with mountains. I traced the edges of a window and left the middle for her to color in. She surprised me by copying my actions and tracing lines all over the page. She drew with focus. Then something extraordinary happened, she began to talk. She told me stories. She paused to look me in the eyes and talk. I almost started crying with the joy of it. It was her, for a brief and beautiful moment, she was herself again.
I wondered if all those times she sat knitting, cooking and sewing were pulled together in this moment of creativity. And I couldn't help but think that when her creative juices began to flow, memories and happy thoughts came with them. Perhaps that's why she could suddenly connect the dots and hold onto memories.  I hope so.

I hope you'll try something creative today; see where it takes you!

September 11, 2012

4 Simple Goals


A few days ago Elsie from A Beautiful Mess sent out a challenge to join her in choosing four simple goals to pursue before 2013. She encouraged us to choose positive action goals instead of just the end result and to post how we're doing along the way. So here are my simple goals:

1. Play a little every day. When I say play, I mean silly and child-like. I want to laugh till my side hurts, read picture books, write in finger paint, run barefoot in the grass, win play a board game or dance in the rain. I want to remember what it's like to be a child and have innocent fun; to soak in each moment like it's a present for no reason.

2. Replace my summer bedtime. I've been waking up early since the kids started back to school, but my summer nighttime routine has remained the same. That means I'm getting up early and staying up late, not a good combination. I'm dragging and for good reason. NEED. SLEEP. So I'm setting my bedtime for 10:00 (yes, that's early for me) and making it a goal to get into a better and healthier habit of rest.

3. Hula-hoop as often as possible. I love hula-hooping. If you're imagining the dollar store hula-hoop that breaks or bends easily, that's not the one. I mean the hula-hoops that are made of hollow metal piping and wrapped with special tape. They're large which makes it easy to hoop with (I know that sounds opposite, but trust me, it's easier). I'm planning on keeping one in the house with the hope of hula-hooping during commercial breaks, breaks between projects, or just because I need to work off  steam energy.

4. Practice back door gratefulness. I find when I'm taking time to be grateful, my attitude improves 100%. So want to make it a practice to ponder something I'm grateful for every time I enter the house. I may even put a painted sign on the door to remind me.

If you'd like to play along, you can see the rules on Elsie's post.

September 10, 2012

Loving Lately: Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice


So lately I'm a little obsessed with pumpkin spice lattes. They're so yummy and I keep thinking if I drink enough of them, cooler weather will descend. ;)

What I'm loving lately:
  • Seeing old friends who were traveling through town this weekend.
  • Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
  • Visiting with my Grandmother who's come to stay with us for the week.
  • Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
  • The new arrangement of my studio. Love having everything within reach!
  • Pumpkin Spice Lattes. (See? Obsessed.)
What are you loving lately?


P.S. I'm going to pause the linky party right now. But if you have a post you'd like to share please leave a link in the comments below; I'd love to see it!


September 7, 2012

Their Memories Often Got Entwined


This is the third painting in my twin series. I still have some tinkering to do with it but it's mostly finished. Growing up with someone from birth and doing almost everything together tends to make memories entwined and a bit hard to decipher which memory is which. We've laughed through the years about who did what. Our parents have been able to help (or photographs or videos) but not always. Sometimes we concede to each other and sometimes we just leave that memory well enough alone. But I'm thankful to have shared so many moments and memories with my sister that I don't mind if she steals one of mine now and again. :D

Ever had a friend or family member you entwined a memory with?


September 6, 2012

Straight from the ART

I'm beginning a new feature spotlighting some of my favorite artists. Today let me introduce Danielle Daniel.


Danielle paints gorgeous mixed-media art. I looohuuve her choice of vibrant color in this piece! My favorite feature of her work is her eyes. Those beautiful angles and layered shadowing have a vulnerable quality that pulls me in. It's deliciously childlike and innocent. I admire how seamlessly she layers. (Am I gushing too much? Sorry, fan girl over here.)

What colors do you lean towards?


September 5, 2012

Pinwheel Thoughts

Pinwheel Thoughts. 

This post is full of pinwheel thoughts whirring around in my mind.

I Miss Having a Blog List. 

I used to have a beautiful blog list of all the blogs I follow sitting on the sidebar. I follow a LOT of blogs. I'm not ashamed of this; it fills my Google Reader full of goodness. And used to, I would see all that goodness throughout the day when I'd check on my blog. I could click on the pretty pictures and hop to the newest posts. It helped me visit loads more blogs. BUT, I started getting Malware warnings on my blog due to being linked to some blogs that had been put in harm's way. The only way to stop it was to take the links off my blog. At first I tried just deleting the links that were a problem. But it kept happening and I KEPT having to delete links. I don't want someone to hop to my blog only to find a Malware warning. If I were them, I might not return to what could be perceived as a dangerous site. So finally I relented and took the blog list off. I've missed it so much. I still check my Google Reader but it's just not as convenient. Have any of you struggled with this? Maybe it was my monster of a list.

Turning My Artwork in a (little bit) of a New Direction. 

I've had a niggling to do a few things different in my art. I've always wanted the addition of words since I've always adored doodling words and letters. It was kind of an obsession growing up. So lately my backgrounds have become more serene and simple while the subject has taken a more prominent place along with words. It's been invigorating to try something different and see where it goes.

Q & A Post

I've been thinking about doing a question and answer post. If any of you have a question (on art, blogging, or whatever), leave it in the comments below and maybe I'll make a post about them.

What things are pinwheeling around in your mind today?