Thank you for all your kind, kind comments. The recipient is: BeckyR
Becky, can you please email me your Big Picture username and I’ll make sure you’re added to the class?
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David says: I didn’t Pellegrino’s story and how she was mean to Edward. But I also didn’t like how Edward was selfish and didn’t love anyone. But after he sat on the bottom of the ocean for a long while, Nellie loved him and he was so happy to out of the water and to be loved. I thought it was funny Nellie thought he was a girl. I got sad when he was dumped in the trash and was thrown off the train. But the worst part was when the little girl died and then when Edward’s head was cracked open. But then, in the end Edward appreciated being loved and started to love back and have hope again. It was wonderful that Abilene’s daughter found him so he was able to go back home. Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
jake karen david nathaniel
Here are some of my favorite captured moments from this week: Nathaniel super-happy to be back with Daddy:
both of the kids hovering over daddy and watching him play:
Nathaniel looking through his books while I work.
some smiles from the big boy.
Nathaniel writing and drawing. Look at those feet.
focusing hard.
David writing his gratitudes.
Nathaniel looking through the Target catalog.
picking toys.
a smile from the little boy.
and one from the big boy.
we just finished reading the Westing Game and David saw it in the school library and checked it out.
Nathaniel up in front of the class, for sharing.
And finally today’s family shots.
drama and laughter.
and lots of tickling.
And those are some of the moments from our week. It was a special week and I am deeply grateful for it. Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here. As December approaches, I wanted to get ready with my album. My goal this year was to do my version of the Shabby Travel Journals that Mary Ann Moss makes. I signed up for her Remains of the Day class a few months ago, watched the videos and spent a while (much longer than I’d hoped) putting my book together. Here’s how it looks now. As we get closer to December, I will talk more about some of my decisions and plans this year. I apologize in advance that many of the photos are not 100% clear. My lens is for portrait shots and has a shallow depth of field so it’s not the best to take these kinds of photos. My book has about 80 pages so, after a while, I got bored and just wanted to get it done. 🙂 I also added a movie in the end so you can see it a bit better. Feel free to ask any questions you might have. You are forewarned, there are a LOT of photos in this post: Here’s the cover. It will likely change a bit but I kept it simple for now.
Here it is without the ribbon:
and the back:
the book has 2 signatures. Each signature has 10 pages that go across so it’s a total of 40 pages per signature and 80 in the whole book. I checked the last 3 years and I average about 75-80 pages each year. Here’s the first page:
I didn’t put any numbers this year. Wanted to leave it more free form. Some of the pages are photos I took in the previous years. You can see one on the right side of the this next photo.
here are more pages:
here’s one with an overlay. You can’t see it but that’s a pocket so I can put something under the overlay.
and here’s another photo on the left and an overlay flap on the right.
more pages:
middle of the first signature:
more photos and pages:
and the end of the first signature:
beginning of the second signature:
more of the same kinds of pages with photos and overlays:
some of the pages were coming apart due to my bad stitching so I taped them:
middle of second signature:
and more pages:
and here it is on the table:
And here’s the video I promised. I apologize in advance for my yucky computer fan that would not quiet down: And there you go. I have mixed feelings about this book but I am grateful that I finally got to try to make one of these shabby journals. Let’s see how it works. We’re almost done with this year and I am, apparently, not going to lose these last bunch of pounds. That’s ok. Since this is a long-haul, I can live with not getting down to the ideal weight this year. In fact, if I did, it might motivate me less next year and I certainly don’t want that. My goal is to keep going. I’ve already increased my run to 2.1 miles for November and plan to go to 2.2 for December, all the way back to the 3.1 miles I was walking. This is a path I don’t plan to stop walking on. For 2012, I also want to add weights/exercises for more toning and something like pilates/yoga/meditation for being calmer, and stretching my muscles more. I think if I can get a way to do all three, I will have a well-rounded exercises routine and it will help with my stress as well. As for the food, I bought myself a special plate with Kelly Rae Robert’s art on it. For now, I am staying away from bad decisions and leaving it at that for now. I do plan on fixing it but I am still feeling under the weather and I have no patience or strength to sit and figure it out now. So, as long as I stick to fresh food and proteins, I think I will be ok. At least until I can sit down and figure it out for once and all. and here’s this week’s card:
Healthy for Life is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
As I was looking for classes on Pinterest today (I do this often), I came across this site. I don’t know anything about it and have only read a few posts. There are many with those 6ways to do this or 18 reasons why.. kinds of posts I mentioned last week. Many good ones. But one post had me thinking. It’s a post full of thought-provoking questions that are illustrated. Illustrations aside, some of the questions jumped out at me and I wanted to share my thoughts: 1. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would your message be? I like this question. I can think of so many answers. But, for me, it always comes back to two things: being you and being kind. I feel like if we were all willing to be a bit more vulnerable and show our true selves and we were all willing to be kinder to each other (which would help with the vulnerability, too), the world would be a considerably better and more meaningful place. 2. Are you holding onto something that you need to let go of? 3. Have you done anything lately worth remembering? 4. Do you celebrate the things you do have? 5. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done? 6. When was the last time you tried something new? I try to do this regularly. Drawing was new for me this year. As I think of 2012, I want to make sure there’s at least one new thing on my list. 7. Which activities make you lose track of time? While some people might say this should be important for choosing a career, I think this is valuable for happiness. Knowing what you love to do. Knowing what makes you happy. For me this is: reading, doing art, hugging my family, and sometimes programming. 8. If you could do it all over again, would you change anything? I work hard to live my life with no regrets. I think a lot before I make decisions. A lot. But once the decision comes and goes, I tend to not look back. I also know that we can never tell how the paths we didn’t walk end and how many other aspects of our life they would change. You can’t alter one thing without having side effects. So I tend to prefer the known over the unknown. Those are some of the questions that spoke to me. I like many of the others, too. Good list to come back to at different times in my life. How about you? Are there any questions that seem exceptionally thought-provoking for you? I’d love to know them even if they are not on this list. And here’s the next Komtrak page:
The full text reads: Let your star shine bright. I used acrylics on this page and just did a quick one. And here’s the next Komtrak page:
The full text reads: Aim higher than what feels comfortable. I used acrylics on this page and just did a super-quick one. And here’s the next Komtrak page:
The full text reads: Always go where the peace is for you. I used acrylics on this page. I wanted to draw a girl dipping her toes in the water because that brings me peace. I saw this photo:
and drew it first:
then I painted and stitched. It didn’t turn out exactly as I had hoped but I still like it. And here’s the next Komtrak page:
The full text reads: You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it however. The quote is from Richard Bach. I wanted the page to look like a dandelion that you might wish on. I am creating multiple art journaling pages a week for now. You can read more about it and the book I am using for these pages at the top of this blog post. Ok, I know I’ve been promising that I would share my notebooks with you for a few weeks, so here it is finally. Last year, I read this post by Karen which prompted me to get my own journal. (she’s since written more about it and her post is excellent.) I decided to use a squared Moleskine because I love squared paper. I had some plans for the notebook but my process and what I put in it has evolved and progressed throughout the year. So it’s a constantly-evolving process. After using my first one for a few weeks, I decided the black was too depressing so I started painting them. I never do a good job but I still love them. So here’s the outside of my second book:
It gets a lot of use and goes everywhere with me, so it gets banged up quite a bit. The first page has the calendar:
The second page has my personal statement from the Soul Restoration 2 class and then my first todo list page:
I make the todo list pages every Sunday, for the week ahead and then add, cross off, change them throughout the week. My todo list pages have lists: must-do (for things that have to get done that week), nice-to-do (things I’d like to get done but it’s ok if they don’t), write (ideas for blog posts I might want to write), create (layouts, projects coming up due), blog (art, layouts, books, etc that I’ve already completed that are waiting for me to put up on the blog.) I then put a piece of paper for each week that has my daily tasks on it. Everyday, I cross them out. As of now, the daily tasks I do are: exercise, sketching, journaling, reading to David, art journaling, collage book (new project for 2012), and blogging thoughts at night. At some point, I had more and I might have different ones in a few weeks. I create these on the computer and print them out a few weeks’ worth at a time. I then tape one for each week. The page in the photo above is colored with pencils but i don’t do that anymore. It was an experiment and I didn’t like it. I then use the same book to journal in the mornings.
Most days, I only write one page. Sometimes it’s more but one page is my minimum. This is literally the next page in the notebook. I also sketch in the same book right after this page:
when I first switched to watercolors, I started to glue down my paper:
but now I do it on a paper and then slip it in a 4×6 adhesive slip just like Karen mentions in her post. I then glue my art journal page right next to it.
This means my art journal pages are the same size as the Moleskine 5.125×8.25 but I am ok with that (at least for now.) I put everything in this one little book. Here’s a double-spread of todo lists:
the mind maps I made in Karen’s class:
the visual board I made there, too:
the love list, or any other homework I had in her class. In all the classes I had this year that involved journaling or writing thoughts down:
Here’s my current journal:
It’s much much bulkier than that now and I am only 3 weeks in. I took this photo when I was almost done with number two:
The blue is the first one, then red. Yellow is the one I am on now and green will be my last one for 2011 (assuming the yellow one doesn’t take me to the end of the year.) I’ve come to love and rely on my notebook. I carry it with me everywhere. I doodle, sketch, write, and keep my lists in it. My kids love looking through it and never read my journaling. I keep the journaling pages facing each other and never put art or todo lists on the facing pages. And I don’t mind that they are all together. There you go. Now you know how all about my notebook. This is definitely my happiest way to get and stay organized. I love and adore my books and swear by the process. Let me know if you have any questions and I am absolutely happy to answer. By the way, I will do my best to catch up on all the comments in the next two days. Thank you for your patience with me. The sketches for this week are varying and I dislike most of them. I actually feel like I’ve hit this spot where I want to find my own sketching voice and see what I want to do for 2012. I like watercolor but I want to think about my subject matter more. See what I like. Explore. Sunday: ( i like these shoes ok.)
Monday: (I absolutely hated doing this bike. and still hate looking at it)
Tuesday: ( i loved the idea of doing a hummingbird but didn’t like the way it turned out.)
this one has some gold shine that doesn’t show up:
Wednesday: (this was inspired by an ornament. it’s ok. so-so)
Thursday: (this one, too, I feel so-so about.)
Friday: (this is the one that broke the camel’s back. i hate this sketch)
And Saturday: (so I went back to my safe place and drew one of Abigail’s sketches. I adore her.)
And there we go. A yucky week. Daily Sketching is a weekly project for 2011. You can see a detailed post on my steps here.
Since I am a big fan of Elizabeth Berg, there was no doubt that I would read Once Upon a Time There Was You when it came out. And while I enjoyed her wonderfully detailed characters and soft, deep observations as I usually do, I didn’t like this book as much as some of her others. I find she’s marvelous at connections, relationships and women and I felt like those topics were less a part of this book than some of her previous ones. Alas, I will read anything she writes because I like the way she writes. Her words have a way of speaking to me. I just hope the next one is more like the older ones.
2011 has been a good year for me in forward-progress. I’ve spent a lot of time doing some of the things I wanted to do. I’ve focused on sketching, art journaling, exercise, and journaling. More time with my family. More productivity at work. I feel like I’ve moved forward in all those areas. I have visible, tangible proof for most of the changes. But I still find myself struggling. I have specific wishes in all these areas that evolve, grow, change as I work on them. For example, this past week, I decided I wanted to be able to draw my own characters in a simple, illustrative style. Like Abigail Halpin whose style just speaks to me. The thing is, I have no desire to be a children’s illustrator and I lack the years of practice (and I am guessing a lot of formal education) she has. As I’ve learned in the last two days, it doesn’t come naturally to me and I have absolutely no idea where to begin learning. I want to work on my lettering. Even though I’ve signed up for Lori’s amazing class, guess what? It won’t work unless I practice. A lot. So what’s lacking is not my ability to write beautifully but my willingness to put the time in to practice again and again until I can do it. I want to build firmer muscles. Not bulky ones but I’d rather exchange my flabby tummy for a firmer, stronger one. This means weights, pilates, sit-ups…Something to work on those muscles. Same goes for the rest of my body. I want to eat healthier. This means committing to learning more about food, finding things that work with my lifestyle. I want to focus more on self-growth. This means journaling more intentionally. Finding classes, books, resources to help me more. I’m learning something really obvious: the work is never finished. There’s always more ways in which to grow. There’s always more to learn. And everything requires time. Everything. That’s the most difficult decision to make: where do I dedicate my precious time? What do i want to do with it? Am I doing what I want to do or what I think I should do? What I liked back then but don’t like anymore (but won’t stop?) Am I spending my time in the way that makes me happiest (most fulfilled)? My attempts at learning to do “illustrative” sketching are abysmal enough that I wanted to walk away immediately. Just pick something else to do. Anything else. But I told myself that I will give it a month. Even if it’s a month of terrible sketches, I want to see if I can find a way to make it work. After a month of legitimate effort, if I still hate what I produce, I can walk away. I am willing to dedicate 15-30 precious minutes to this every day for a month. In exchange for possibly opening a joyful door for myself. Or maybe just proving to myself that I can. As for the other things on my list, they will get their due, too. But as I look forward to 2012 and plan my projects, the biggest thing on my mind is Time. Answering the most difficult question of how I want to spend my minutes. They are so rare and so fleeting. Have you made plans for 2012? for this week, i started with just this tree:
And I added slowly little bits here and there. here is the left:
here is the right:
And here’s the filled page:
It ended up pretty simple, too, but I like it. 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. |
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