karenika

Art Journaling – Week 27

And here’s the next page:

The full text reads: take a moment to rest, it’s ok. (I used this beautiful art as a guide.)

I tried to use my tombow markers for this one too, just trying to practice with them. i didn’t have nearly as much patience as the original artist clearly does.

Well here we go. More coming next week.

I am creating art journaling pages each week for now. You can read more about this project here. This set uses the Fabriano Roma papers.

The Savor Project – Week 42

And here’s the next spread :

here’s a closer up of the left side:

the first section here is about the pancake breakfast we went to at the fire station. And then David being mischievous.

And here’s the right side:

Here it’s about building projects at home depot and playing cards with daddy.

Art along the bottom as usual.

Another great week. Happy Savoring.

The Savor Project was supposed to be a weekly project for 2012. You can read about my setup here.

A Book a Week – the knife of never letting go

The Knife of Never Letting Go is yet another young adult novel that came highly recommended. And I liked it almost immediately. The premise is a bit violent and so is the book. But there was something about it that pulled me in.

I think it was the narration and the main character. Even though I have the sequels, I haven’t read them yet so I can’t tell you if they are as good. And while I liked this book, it wasn’t the best I read this year. But it was a solid read.

If violence or strong language are not an issue for you, you might like this book. The premise and the story are quite interesting and worthwhile.

Daily Sketching – Week 81

Here are the sketches from last week. Not my favorite set but they can’t all be winners 🙂 :

that’s it for this week.

Daily Sketching is a weekly project for 2012. You can see a detailed post on my sketching journey here.

One Little Word – August and September

Since I didn’t post this morning and I am about to leave for class, I figured I’ll post more of my One Little Word pages.

Here’s July and August:

july was the lyrics and then the burned cd:

and the back:

and then august is taking a pause which was a recent photo of me:

I had two i liked so I put one in the back, too:

there we go. Still didn’t finish my October assignment, I better get on that!

Weekly Diary – October 27 2012

Here are some snapshots from our week:

David finally talked me into decorating the house for Halloween.

We had nothing so we went to Michael’s and got a few things.

some of which are not so cute.

then the kids made some puzzles.

and finally we carved our pumpkin.

it took me a while but i think it turned out cool!

here it is in the dark!

David brought another puppet home.

Nathaniel loved it, too.

I tried to snap some photos of him during lunch but he kept laughing.

but i just kept taking more.

cause he’s so cute!

my angel.

family shots this week made me laugh a lot

the kids were really into it.

especially nathaniel.

david, too

and then it was tickle time of course!

and here we go. i hope your week was lovely, too.

Weekly Diary is a project for 2012. You can read more about it here.

Journey into Collage – Week 43

The title says: life is an adventure. enjoy the ride. you do not know what comes next.

had fun with bubble wrap for this one 🙂

Journey into Collage is a project for 2012. You can read more about it here.

Art Journaling – Week 26

And here’s the next page:

The full text reads: peace comes with learning to let go and just be present. (I used this beautiful art as a guide.)

I tried to use my tombow markers for this one and they bled quite a bit but it created a fun effect of its own so I went with it. All in the name of learning.

Well here we go. More coming next week.

I am creating art journaling pages each week for now. You can read more about this project here. This set uses the Fabriano Roma papers.

The Savor Project – Week 41

And here’s the next spread :

here’s a closer up of the left side:

the first section here is about the two boys spending time together. The second one is playing in the backyard cause school had an impromptu closing due to burst pipes.

And here’s the right side:

Here it’s about a movie we saw, getting our first Xmas train tickets, my unraveling class and david’s first snail mail.

Art along the bottom as usual.

Another great week. Happy Savoring.

The Savor Project was supposed to be a weekly project for 2012. You can read about my setup here.

A Book a Week – daughter of smoke and bone

For some reason, even though it was recommended in all the lists I read, I put off reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone for a long time. It sounded weird. And I don’t always like weird.

I rarely like weird.

I also don’t like fantasy that often. Nor do I like unusual language in my books.

And this book had them all.

And yet.

I loved it.

I swallowed the whole thing in a day and did not want to put it down. Cannot wait for number 2.

Hibernation

Life seems to be so very crazy lately. I feel like the days are racing by. The books I want to read are piling up. I’m falling behind in the art I want to create. The emails are out of control. I can’t seem to sit down and write here. I am not taking photos that document our life. Even the Tivo is filling up. It feels like a constant catch-up game. Please tell me some of you out there are feeling this, too?

I don’t really know what happened to September and October. In another week we’re going to be into November. I can’t believe 2012 is almost over.

I often go into what I consider to be a resting period starting mid-November or so. I think maybe it’s just starting earlier this year. I basically slow down. A lot. And lately I’ve been feeling an overwhelming need to slow down my “typical” routines.

I’ve had deadlines and todos for some of my regular commitments. And work, of course. Taking the kids to school and back, sitting to oversee homework, teaching the little one to read, and just trying to kiss them as much as I can. I’ve also been giving sample sessions and coaching sessions for new clients. I’ve been going to class.

But when there’s a moment of quiet, I’ve been wanting to do nothing. Nothing.

Nothing is not a common state for me. In fact I have a lot to write about the Default Mode Network of the brain and the flow mode. Both of which we covered in class this week, but that’s for another day. I like to fill my minutes up. I like to read and do art and work on my savor project.

But not lately. I feel a stronger pull to veg out than usual. This is common for the holiday season, but I’ve never felt it happen so early in the year. During the holidays I read pretty much non stop. I read books I’ve been piling all year. I drop all my projects and self-commitments and just do what I want. I do it all guilt free. It’s the joy of December.

And I think maybe this year I have to start it early.

Maybe all this resistance is a sign that I need an extended December this year.

So I am officially letting myself off the hook. I will do only what I want, when I want. I will continue my commitments to others. I will show up for my kids. I will be teaching the December Daily Boot Camp for Gossamer Blue and the 12 Days of Christmas for Big Picture Classes. I will be coaching. I will be going to class. I will be exercising. But other than those, I am going let myself relax. Stress free and guilt free. I will do what I want, when I want. If some of my personal projects go by the wayside for November, so be it.

Instead, the books will get read, TV will be watched, there will be snuggles, resting, sleeping, planning for 2013, and hopefully solid amounts of meditation.

Bring it On.