Weekly Diary – June 9 2012

as might be expected, there are a LOT of photos this week. I just wanted them all, feel free to skip, I won’t be offended. Here they are:

we spent some time by the pool and I finally got to sit and sketch. nathaniel is pouting cause he can’t use my watercolors.

but then they got their own art supplies (thanks Yona!)

daddy took this one on his cell phone (the other two, too)

my dad and nathaniel on the ipad.

mom. i love you mom.

miss her already.

my sister wanted photos of all the kids so we sat them down and tried to get them to behave.

we started with tickle time.

which the kids loved.

but nathaniel was pouty and didn’t really want smiley photos.

he kept pouting and pouting.

my sister and her two wonderful boys.

isn’t that magnificent?

nathaniel is still unwilling to cooperate.

but i snagged one without a pout.

then it was tickle time again so he perked up

and all was well.

laughter and laughter.

and the little boy finally gives me a smile.

not the best photo but still me and my boys!

every morning, we sat outside to have our breakfast and this little dog came to visit us.

there was much ipad time.

for each of the boys.

my sister and her hubby.

the two drivers who took us everywhere all week. the one on the right has known me since i was teeny tiny.

on our last day, we went to a transportation museum.

more ipad time.

on my last night, we were at my sister’s and i snapped a bunch of last minute photos.

my love.

my wonderful mom.

more of my sister and her hubby.

yona played with nathaniel and made him laugh laugh laugh.

he just loved it.

then it was david’s turn.

who also enjoyed every minute of it.

then the boys finally got home so I could take their photos.

they, too, did some tickle time.

there’s nothing like tickle time.

i love this 1-1 time they had.

and the hugs.

but mostly the laughter.

it was miraculously hard to get them all together.

and even harder when yona tried to get them to pose a certain way.

i didn’t have a 1-1 with aksel and david so I snapped that, too.

and then we were on our way home. after a long, long flight, running through the airport with a lot of luggage, missing flights, and rearranging stuff, we made it home safe and sound. and i snapped a few more photos.

my boys colored while i rested and unpacked.

and then Friday I had work. nathaniel woke up at 2:45 am and so did I, so it was a long long day. But we took our family photo with love.

and laughter.

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.

June 9, 2012 | Family, Weekly Diary 2012 | 5 comments

Journey into Collage – Week 23

Page twenty-three:

I covered my background with tissue paper from 7 gypsies. Added some circles. Some of the grungeboard from Tim with gold paint and this page was done.

The quote says: Give your dreams flight. Choose, choose, choose to soar.

Here are some more shots of it:

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

June 8, 2012 | Art, Collage, Mixed Media | 3 comments

Art Journaling – Arches Printmaking Set 6

Here are some more pages I did:

The full text reads: stand tall and show yourself to the world. you are magnificent.
This art is my version of: the stunning angel by augusto sanchez

And here’s the next page:

The full text reads: to love others, start by loving yourself more.

Well here we go. More coming next week.

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

June 7, 2012 | Mixed Media, Weekly Art Journal | 3 comments

The Savor Project – Week 21

And here’s the spread for week twenty:

here’s a closer up of the left side:

The first story here just how much i love my kids. I have to do these regularly 🙂 Next one is advice to David and then the last one is David drawing science. What he’s learned so far.

And here’s the right side:

The first one here is book club. The second one is thoughts about Nathaniel. Then about packing to leave for Turkey. And finally about the 31 Things class.

My art and our family photo along the bottom as usual.

So there we go. So far, so good. Still enjoying this project a lot.

Happy Savoring.

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

June 6, 2012 | The Savor Project | Leave a comment

A Book a Week – Variant

After a lovely, literary book like Angle of Repose, I had to move to something light and fun so I read about Variant in Stephanie Howell’s blog and got it and read it pretty much in two days.

I was really really mad at the end because I didn’t know it was part of a series and it left with a pretty big cliffhanger. Books like that make me mad. But alas it was a great read and I really enjoyed it.

So now I have to wait for number two.

Argh.

June 6, 2012 | Books Read in 2012, Literature | Leave a comment

Family Night: It makes Me Happy

This layout is for Write.Click.Scrapbook’s June Gallery. The theme is to scraplift another member. I chose this wonderful layout from Marnie Flores.

Journaling Reads:
2011 has been a year of starting traditions for us and i’ve loved them all so much. Especially sunday night family games.

June 4, 2012 | Layouts, Scrapbooking, WriteClickScrapbook | 2 comments

David’s BoGM – Week 12

Here is the next spread from our book:

This page is a photo from the same playdate. David had so much fun that we wanted to make sure we remembered it.

more next time.

David’s Book of Good Memories is a bi-weekly project for 2012 with my seven-year-old son David. You can read more about it here.

June 3, 2012 | David, David's Book of Good Memories, Family | Leave a comment

Weekly Diary – June 2 2012

we have been home with my family and I haven’t been able to write daily. I ended up not having as much free time as I originally thought I might have while I’m here. Haven’t even managed to do a single sketch. Alas, here are some great moments from this week:

My sister’s son Jeff with Nathaniel (who was trying on clothes for the barmitzvah)

Her other son Aksel with Nathaniel.

Nathaniel wouldn’t look at the camera.

my mom, on the phone, as she often is.

Jeff with David.

being goofy.

the kids have not eaten much of the food here but my sister’s muffins are super-popular.

Nathaniel wouldn’t stop eating even for the photo.

the ipad has been a good friend to the kids during the more “boring” family conversations.

my sister’s husband, Isaac, and Nathaniel have become fast friends. Here he was “skiing” on him and laughing and laughing.

they played for hours together.

there’s a playground where we’re staying and the kids loved it.

david claimed he didn’t but it’s clear to me he did too.

my dad pushing Nathaniel.

and David trying to figure out how to get himself started.

he figured it out.

Nathaniel kept saying “higher”.

higher.

the next morning was the barmitzvah ceremony so the kids dressed up.

not too much, just dressy shirts and pants.

that night, Jake and I went out to dinner to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary (which was last Sunday) and the kids hung out with my mom, dad, sister, etc at my sister’s house.

there was much roughhousing of course.

at one point my sister’s twins piled on top of their dad and then David on top of them and then they put Nathaniel at the very top. They fell over more from laughter than pain.

and then there was only Nathaniel left and he told Isaac he had a “secret” to tell him. (His secret, which he whispered very loudly, was that we were going to go on a plane!)

we took our family photo at my mom’s today and it was sort of late so there wasn’t a lot of good light. but we did it anyway. And we had tickle time too of course.

afterwards the whole family ate dinner together at my mom’s. it was loud and noisy and absolutely wonderful.

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.

June 2, 2012 | Family, Weekly Diary 2012 | 7 comments

Journey into Collage – Week 22

As promised, here’s the page I did with the Stars and Circles template from yesterday’s hop:

To create these circles, I just got some text paper and cut them into circles:

and then painted the template on them using two different sets of colors. I used red and orange and green and blue:

Once it was painted, I just rubbed some more paint along the edges and adhered them onto my page.

I painted the background and stamped the words after adhering. I then used three other stencils: poppies, clouds, and butterfly meadow to create the black parts. And finally added the white with reverse chickenwire.

The words say: The world needs more color. So create more and more art. Fill it up with joy.

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

June 1, 2012 | Art, Collage, Mixed Media | 2 comments

Art Journaling and Stencil Hop: Stars and Circles

When Julie asked me if I would be willing to participate in her Spring 2012 Stencil Hop, my reply was a resounding yes. I am a huge fan of both Julie and The Crafter’s Workshop stencils. I am an even bigger fan of Julie’s The Crafter’s Workshop stencils!

I was the lucky participant of the Stars and Circles stencil which looks like this:

As soon as I got my stencil, the first thing I did was to create a collage page. But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see that one. Right after I was done, I couldn’t stop so I created two art journaling pages so I am here to share those with you.

Here they are:

I used the circles template as a background for this one but it’s pretty loud and still a main part of my page. I think it supports the main star and the quote really well so I wanted to make sure it was a significant part of the page. The other stencil I used here for the big star is also by Julie and it’s called Layered Stars.

The quote is actually a Robert Frost poem that I’ve always loved. It says: We dance round in a ring and suppose but the secret sits in the middle and knows.

I liked how the circles represented people dancing around in a ring and the star was the secret that sat in the middle.

Then, I completely changed course and created this one:

In this one I used the Stars and Circles template more like a background. I like that it adds color and interest to my page but doesn’t take away from the flowers in the foreground. I also loved that the circles fit perfectly in the middle of the Leaf Grid template, which is also by Julie and so are the flowers, which is the Poppies template.

The quote on this one reads: Do not wait for others, go find your own joy. Step up and own your life.

That’s it for today.  Thank you so much for visiting me and make sure visit everyone else on the hop:

And then go back to Julie’s blog and leave her a comment for a chance to win this awesome template!

Oh, and come back tomorrow for my collage post which will also use this very template!

May 31, 2012 | Mixed Media, Weekly Art Journal | 34 comments

The Savor Project – Week 20

And here’s the spread for week twenty:

here’s a closer up of the left side:

The first story here is Nathaniel’s preschool and the mothers’ tea they had. And the second one is about Mother’s Day and my breakfast and the signs the boys made for me.

And here’s the right side:

The first one here is going to the movies with my boys. The Secret World of Arriety. and then about David drawing science. And then the last one is about how Nathaniel loves run run running for his life in the living room!

My art and our family photo along the bottom as usual.

So there we go. So far, so good. Still enjoying this project a lot.

Happy Savoring.

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

May 30, 2012 | The Savor Project | 2 comments

A Book a Week – Angle of Repose

When Jake and I were planning to move to the West Coast, several people told me to read Angle of Repose. It’s the quintessential California book, I was told. I bought it.

But I never read it.

We’ve now been in the west coast for nine years. And I finally got to read it thanks to book club. And you know what? It was wonderful. Slow in parts, quite sad but still beautifully written and told. I haven’t read any of his other books but now I know I want to.

And I must admit, it’s not as much about California as it is about moving to the west. A solid, wonderful read.

May 30, 2012 | Books Read in 2012, Literature | Leave a comment

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