Art Journaling – Moleskine Sketch – Week 7

Here are some more journal pages.

This one didn’t turn out as I had hoped. It’s using watercolor pencils, crafters workshop templates, and inks. It says “there’s love and beauty in nature.” I wanted to use my own handwriting more. The tree trunk is too tall in my opinion.

The next one uses the paintstiks, Crafter’s workshop templates and stamps. It says “We accept the love we think we deserve.” It’s from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. A wonderful book.

The next one uses Pink Paislee tissue paper and templates and pan pastels. Very similar to the previous day but it was unintentional. It says “You can choose Joy.” I cannot read or write this one enough.

Then I started trying to draw a bit so the next few use watercolor pencils. This one says “It’s ok. You can rest awhile.”

And this one took forever and still didn’t turn out the way I wanted. It says “show your colors to the world.”

And that’s the five for this week. More coming next week. Thank you for letting me share.

I am creating art journaling pages daily for June (and maybe longer). You can read more about it and the book I am using here.

July 20, 2011 | AJG, Art, Mixed Media, Weekly Art Journal | 16 comments

Daily Diary – July 19 2011

Another mostly-work-focused day here. So the little boy played.

the big boy did his math work.

I love these photos of him focusing.

I’m trying to encourage him to look at me.

He doesn’t but I do get a sideways smile.

I love that smile.

David went around measuring everything.

It wasn’t a good day for David-photos. Somehow everything I took of him was blurry.

I finally put all the photos in my gratitude album (and the ones for this year.) and Nathaniel loved looking at them.

Another terrible photo of David but he’s super excited about the legos he got today.

I had meetings. The kids worked, played, and now Daddy’s home so I get a short break. Tonight, possibly some art. Hopefully some rest.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for another productive work day. Whoop!
2. I am grateful that my kids know when and how to play by themselves so I can get work done. I know this is a luxury and I don’t take it for granted one bit.
3. I am grateful for my giggly, sweet boys and all the time I get to spend with them. Even when I have a lot of work, we get a lot of snuggle and laugh time and I love love love that.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I got an alien lego (thanks Amore and opapa!) * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that mommy put the photos in “reading with David” book.
3. I am grateful that I played on the phone.

July 19, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | One comment

Weekly Art Journal – Weeklong for June 20

This weeklong page was originally inspired by this awesome piece of art.

here’s a sideways look:

and the real one:

I kept the writing short each day cause I didn’t want to interfere with the art.

here’s the left page:

And the right side:

And here’s the filled page (sorry for the blurry photo, I kept trying but couldn’t get something better):

I like how it’s vertical instead of horizontal.

Weekly Art Journal is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here. And you can find out more about the weeklong daily journaling here.

July 19, 2011 | Art, WAJG, Weeklong Daily Art Journal | 2 comments

Daily Diary – July 18 2011

Today was mostly a play day for the kids since I had a lot of work to do. They made puzzles.

the toolset (though not really tools as much as putting fingers in the holes).

Even though this is to throw canonballs, Nathaniel likes to call it choo choo.

David made some happy faces for me.

Nathaniel stuck some puzzle pieces in the train book (not entirely sure what he was thinking there.)

Then David shot the balls into the floor as Nathaniel watched.

and they both loved it.

Nathaniel pulled a chair, got his blankie and a balloon and then continued to watch his brother.

Then Daddy came home and took David around the block in his bike and now they are eating. I am working and my plans tonight include catching up to email, preparing the next catalyst, and possibly some art journaling. Happy Monday everyone!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful it was a productive day at work. I love getting a long list of things done.
2. I am grateful that my kids like to play together.
3. I am grateful I don’t have any commitments this week. Even though I had a bunch of downtime last week, I am getting back into my schedule this week and I need some structure for a week or two.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played with my brother * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I rode my bike.
3. I am grateful that the author of the book we just finished left us a comment! (Thank you Tom Llewellyn!)

July 18, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | One comment

Daily Diary – July 17 2011

Another super-relaxed day here in the karenika household. We took some more family photos.

Nathaniel was in charge as always.

Until I told him he couldn’t have his truck.

then it was tickle time.

Then the kids played together which is my favorite thing to watch ever.

I just cannot get enough of it.

Then we had the naps, reading, art, scrapping, etc. And David and Jake left for a birthday so I made sure to snap a photo right before he left.

And now the little one is sleeping and the other two are on their way back. I have just my sketching to do and I plan to relax as much as possible as tomorrow starts a new week of work.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I scrapped today.
2. I am grateful that I got some 1-1 time with Nathaniel when David and Jake went to the birthday and that they had some 1-1 time, too.
3. I am grateful I spent some time reading today, It’s definitely my favorite thing to do.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I went to Nico’s birthday * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I got stickers.
3. I am grateful that I got a puzzle and some balloons at the birthday.

July 17, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | Leave a comment

Daily Diary – July 16 2011

We slept in late this morning. Both of us. Which means we both really needed it. It also meant we started our day slowly and took our time. After my exercise and shower, we took family photos. I snapped a few of just the boys as I set things up.

After I sat down I realized I’d left Thomas on, on the TV. Hence the kids not looking at the camera.

Apparently even Jake found it more interesting than the camera.

the other two looked bad but I liked us here so I cropped it out.

After seeing that the kids would just not take their eyes of the TV, I should have gotten up and turned it off.

But instead we did tickle time.

Which did the trick, of course.

Then the kids played and I relaxed on the couch a bunch. Snapped a few more photos.

During Nathaniel’s nap, Jake went running, David played wii and I made more pages on my weeklong journal. Then the little boy woke up so we went for a walk and when he came back, David had prepared a gift of silly bands for him. Which thrilled him to no end.

After some food and some play time, he decided he wanted to read a bit. Took his time and slowly read the whole book.

It was a quiet, wonderful, relaxing day. Tonight I will relax more and just veg on the couch. That’s the plan.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I made some pages on my weeklong journal, I had been meaning to for a while now.
2. I am grateful that Jake took care of our Smog check.
3. I am grateful that I have some great TV saved up for tonight.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played pirate game on the wii * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I finished my lego sticker book.
3. I am grateful that I played wii.

July 16, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | 2 comments

Daily Diary – July 15 2011

Today started well with my friend Leslie who came over for coffee but then I was really really tired and not feeling well so I spent most of the rest of the day just sitting and trying to feel better but I am still not feeling so great. Here’s to hoping it passes.

David drew some beautiful pictures this morning.

And here’s Nathaniel telling him to play the cars movies or games.

he wouldn’t let me take photos today.

but his brother did.

now the kids are going to bed and we have visitors coming tonight though I am still not feeling great. Here’s to hoping it passes.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I had today off, it helped me not feel any pressure for being sick.
2. I am grateful for my husband who picks up a lot of my slack.
3. I am grateful that it’s the weekend and I will have some time to recover.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played soccer * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I drew some pirates on the computer.
3. I am grateful that I did coloring this morning (used my shiny chalks).

July 15, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | Leave a comment

Daily Diary – July 14 2011

Today was the last of the family days we had planned. I wanted to take it easier so we woke up and I exercised and had some breakfast and then we got on the road for Berkeley. We first went to a friend of Jake’s and as soon as we left I snapped some photos of David.

He accommodated me.

because he’s the sweetest kid (when he wants to be.)

Then we went to University of California – Berkeley’s campus and just walked around.

We had a tasty lunch and I snapped a photo of the little one.

We walked around a bunch more then we drove to the scrapbook store and I bought some tiny and big alphabets since I can never have enough alphas. I didn’t buy anything else though. When we got home, I snapped a shot of Nathaniel saying choo choo but this time my shutter was very closed and I’d forgotten so the photo is very grainy as the camera raised the ISO to get enough light.

Nathaniel skipped his nap so he’s sound asleep. David had swim class so he went and came and is about to sleep, too. Jake and I are wiped from a lovely but full day but he’s in a meeting now and I am just relaxing. I hope to do a little art journaling if I can tonight but otherwise I plan to just relax. Read my book and watch TV. Tomorrow promises to be another lovely day.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am deeply grateful for my family. I love them so very much.
2. I am grateful for my husband who does all the heavy lifting during these family days.
3. I am grateful that I get to scrapbook tomorrow and watch a movie with my kids.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we went to Berkeley* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I watched some Pink Panther.
3. I am grateful that I had swimming class.

July 14, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | Leave a comment

Daily Diary – July 13 2011

A quiet day here today. Except for the short trip to my jaw doctor (with both kids mind you) we didn’t do much. I worked, the kids played, we did our typical daily stuff and that was it.

Nathaniel found a choochoo from David’s stash. (he’s saying choo choo here)

And here’s the choo choo.

David just gave me a sweet smile.

My friend Holly is coming tonight and I am excited to see her. I have another friend coming Friday morning. This is a lot of activity for a loner like me. 🙂 And tomorrow we get to have one more family day. My heart is full. I have been art journaling a bit, too. Not as much as before but still trying to make a few pieces a week. I will show them as soon as the ones with the old book are all posted.

I will also try to videotape my book so you can see it a bit better and I know there’ve been a few requests for videos, I am not so great at that but I promise I will try. I appreciate all your kind words and wanted to thank you for even coming to visit, let alone taking the time to comment. I am grateful for it deeply.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful we take another trip tomorrow.
2. I am grateful for my art journal page from last night. I really enjoyed making it.
3. I am grateful that I have a long weekend starting tomorrow.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I got a new book. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I will spend a little time with Daddy.
3. I am grateful that we will watch Stuart Little on Friday.

July 13, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | Leave a comment

Art Journaling – Moleskine Sketch – Week 6

Here are some more journal pages.

I wanted this one to be super dark to symbolize dark/night etc. It’s actually much darker in person and it’s hard to show all the various texture it has. It mostly uses the shiva paintstiks and then some acrylics and stamps on top. It says “look for the light.”

Here’s a little closeup:

The next one uses the Pink Paislee tissue paper and Crafter’s Workshop templates and pan pastels. Says “If you want to receive you must first give.”

This one has all my happy colors. It uses pan pastels, chalk ink, and butterflies I cut off from a Little Yellow Bicycle paper. It says “It’s ok to fly away from the flock.”

This might be my all-time favorite page. I love the color and the sentiment and it all came to me while I was lying in bed and I am glad I remembered it in the morning. It says “We are all connected through love.” It uses the watercolor pencils.

And finally the last page went through multiple iterations. It uses Shiva paintstiks and some templates. It says “fill your home with joy, peace and laughter.” It was first like this:

Then I added a lot of stamps and rubons for some extra layering:

And finally it bothered me that the circles were even numbers so I made the left page 7 and the right one 5.

And that’s the five for this week. More coming next week. Thank you for letting me share.

I am creating art journaling pages daily for June (and maybe longer). You can read more about it and the book I am using here.

July 13, 2011 | AJG, Art, Mixed Media, Weekly Art Journal | 5 comments

Daily Diary – July 12 2011

Today was back to work and it actually felt good to be getting some work done. I ‘ve been slacking a bit in some of my other todo lists but I just need to sit and make a plan. My little art journal that I was working on daily is finished and I need to make a plan for a new art journal. My weeklong one has some new pages painted, too. Alas, I’ve been resting. Or maybe procrastinating a bit…

Nathaniel’s been enjoying the big trucks.

He couldn’t figure out why this one won’t hold the cars up. (we have a dump truck too and that one does so he got confused.)

David loves it, too.

They filled it all up with cars.

Then as David and I read his book, Nathaniel read by himself, too.

I wanted to get one more shot of David but couldn’t get anything good and I was feeling too lazy to move him to good light. So this is what I got.

Then everyone got to do their work. We took our walk of course and made a schedule for David’s rest-of-summer so he doesn’t have to keep asking me what to do next and so he can’t spend too much time with the computer or TV. Play is most of his day but he also has to work a bit and do some reading, writing, and math each day. Just a little to keep the brain cells alive.

I need to spend some time making my own plans tonight. And a little time playing catch up. Then tomorrow I get to work again which I am actually looking forward to again.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful I get to start a new art journal and explore some new ideas.
2. I am grateful for my parents and our frequent Skype chats. Some of my favorite moments of my day.
3. I am grateful that we made a schedule for David, it will help me, as well.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played with my train set. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played with Woody’s Roundup Lego.
3. I am grateful that we ordered an alien lego set.

July 12, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | Leave a comment

Weekly Art Journal – Weeklong for June 13

This weeklong page was made with all Maya Road products. Here it is empty.

here’s the left page:

And the right side:

And here’s the filled page:

I wrote a very long post about it on the Maya Road blog. Much more detail there.

Weekly Art Journal is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here. And you can find out more about the weeklong daily journaling here.

July 12, 2011 | Art, WAJG, Weeklong Daily Art Journal | 3 comments

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