Art Journaling – Strathmore – Pacific Beach

Ok, now that my Moleskine is finished, I wanted to change things up a bit so I decided to use a Strathmore Visual Journal in 9×14. Instead of using the pages in the book, though, I ripped them and used them individually so I could stitch and do other things that the spirals wouldn’t let me.

I’d originally told myself I can take my time and do a page a week but I’ve been making a lot of them and I don’t want to post just one page a week because I will then be posting these pages I did in August all the way into November. Instead I decided to make four posts a week which will keep things a bit more current. I apologize in advance if this gets annoying.

For the first page, I wanted to make a watercolor drawing of this photo I took in Pacific Beach, California

I am not so great with watercolors but I went slowly and did my best. I didn’t do the person cause I really just wanted it to be a scene. (and I wasn’t sure i could do it!)

Here’s what I ended up with:

After I colored, I did add a bunch of stitching around the border and in the waves and then I journaled all around the edges as well.

There we go. Something different.

August 14, 2011 | Art, Watercolor, Weekly Art Journal | 10 comments

Daily Diary – August 13 2011

Happy Saturday! We had a quiet day of course. We got up early and took family photos after exercise-time. I snapped one of my boys.

and there was remote-related conversation of course. Nathaniel had it.

when I tried to take it, he insisted that Daddy take the photos.

then we just gave up and dove into tickle time.

which was awesome, of course.

Afterwards Jake and David rode bikes for a bit and then played soccer together while Nathaniel and I hugged on the couch. And then I went to lunch with my neighbors and David played wii and Nathaniel napped. (and so did Jake.) When I came back I sketched. Then it was time to watch a movie. Nathaniel played as he watched, of course. (see the red box reflecting off of the sun to his face? that’s the red tint of the photo)

And David gave me less than one second to snap this one.

Now they are settling down for the night and I am trying to decide whether I should scrap, art journal, or just cuddle up with a book. Maybe a little of each?

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a fun lunch with friends.
2. I am grateful for snuggle time with Nathaniel.
3. I am grateful for one more day of vacation.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched a movie. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played wii.
3. I am grateful that I played soccer with daddy.

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

Us Right Now – August 13

jake
Jake had a great week. Some important meetings and big potential possibilities. It’s amazing how resourceful and bold he can be. I am so awed by him and so proud of him. I pray every day that his business becomes exactly what he wishes it to be because I truly do not know anyone more deserving. This is truly his passion and he puts his all into it. He spent a day in Marin and one in Berkeley and a lot of time down here with the interns. He even worked at home one morning so I could go have breakfast at work. I love him so.

karen
It was a relatively uneventful week for me. I did a lot of work and some art journaling and sketching. I’ve made some changes in my food intake and routine. I read a book from start to finish. I took Christy’s Color Inspiration class and watched all of her videos while I exercised. I did a bunch of journaling (though not as much as I would have liked to.) and I spent time practicing multiplication tables with David and reading to him. We read a lovely book called The World According to Humphrey. All in all, a peaceful and wonderful week.

david
David has been playing with legos. I think they give him more joy than anything. Even more than the Wii or the computer. When he’s on the computer, he looks at galleries of what others have built with legos and gets ideas for his own creations. He’s doing excellent at the multiplication tables. He has also changed his handwriting so it’s super-tidy and really a joy to look at. His swimming and soccer are both improving. Last week we checked out a few books from the library and he’s already finished several including Alvin Ho. I love that boy madly.

nathaniel
Nathaniel is completely obsessed with a library book called Dig. He asks me to read it to him every time he goes for a nap or down for the night. It’s his very favorite thing. I read and he points at the photos and tells me the name of things. It’s one of my very favorite moments of the day. I might have to end up buying the book.

Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

August 13, 2011 | Family, Us Right Now | Leave a comment

Daily Diary – August 12 2011

I actually scrapbooked today. It had been a long time. But I had a lot of fun and there were so many things that it ended up spreading over to the little boy’s table. So he took a look at them, of course.

He was quite fascinated.

The big boy played quietly most of the day and then wrote in his gratitude journal.

He was already dressed for his soccer class.

and the little boy kept playing with the containers of my scrappy goodies.

I have been on fire with the art journaling ever since yesterday’s big revelation. I’ve made 3 pages and have already thought of my fourth. I am so thankful and excited. Let’s hope it lasts.

Plans this weekend include at least one more layout and a bunch more art journaling. That’s about it. Reading, playing, hugging the family, too, of course. Happy weekend!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for some pastel pencils I just got in the mail.
2. I am grateful for some scrap time. It felt wonderful.
3. I am grateful for getting my license renewed. I was dreading the DMV but it was relatively painless.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched some lego movies. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played with Nathaniel’s new knights playmobil toy.
3. I am grateful that I had my last soccer class.

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

Healthy For Life – Week 32

Well, this week’s not anything to be excited about but I am thankful that I have at least not gained any weight. I would like to see some better results after all the effort I’ve been putting in but I will be patient. I will see this through. Whatever it takes.

I’ve made quite a few changes in the last week or so. I have stopped drinking the coffee and drink tea instead. Also no more peanut butter and no snacking randomly. I’ve also started making sure I eat chicken and beans every day. And sometimes eggs. I try to make sure I am eating as much fresh food as I possibly can. The only other thing I really need to cut out is the graham crackers but we’re not there just yet. Soon.

I’ve changed the exercise around slightly as well. I now walk one of the three miles at a small incline. I plan to increase it slowly. I know this is not a big change but at this point all I feel comfortable with is small changes. I figure they are better than no changes.

One day at a time. That’s what I keep reminding myself.

and here’s this week’s card:

Healthy for Life is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

August 12, 2011 | Health, Healthy for Life | 2 comments

I Love How You Told me It’s a Flower

This layout was for Maya Road CHA Summer show. It’s not a favorite of mine. I actually really do not like it but I wanted to be honest and show you that I make many pages I don’t like. Having said that, I love this story and since it’s more about the story than anything else, I am still glad I have it.

Journaling Reads:
You were sitting on the floor and drawing on your magnetic toy when i asked you what you were drawing i don’ know what answer i expected but it certainly wasn’t the one i got. you turned to me and signed flower. and i was floored. “are you drawing a flower, Nathaniel’ 0a asked and you said yes. I couldn’t believe that you understood me and that you were drawing something specific you never cease to amaze me.

Details:

August 12, 2011 | Maya Road, Scrapbooking | 5 comments

Daily Diary – August 11 2011

Today was a day without great photos. Just the way it goes sometimes. there was staring.

there were more silly faces.

and little boys imitating.

little boys who are just too cute.

going on tippie tippie toes to reach way above his height.

and a big boy who was super-delighted to make it to level two in his swimming class. rock.star.boy.

Things are still going swimmingly here. Life is full but not stressful. I am thankful. I am grateful. I have more to say but I have about 14 posts to schedule (a LOT of art journaling coming up in the next few weeks) so I better get started. I will be posting so much in the next few weeks, you might get sick of me. I hope I don’t scare you away permanently.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a good dev release despite a few hiccups.
2. I am grateful for finally finally finally having found my art journaling voice….maybe.
3. I am grateful for my husband who is always always always the light of my life.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played with my lego men. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I had a treat.
3. I am grateful that I moved to level two in swimming.

August 11, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | 3 comments

Daily Sketching – Week 18

Here are the sketches from this week. ALL of them this week are by the awesome amazing Abigail Halpin.

Wednesday, I made this girl.

the next day, I did this girl:

Friday I did this girl quickly cause i had no time:

on Saturday I wanted to do something more involved so I did this girl in a boat:

on Sunday, I did this girl in profile. I love this one.

Monday was these this cutie pie.

Tuesday I fell in love with this girl so I tried it:

Isn’t Abigail Halpin truly amazing??

and here we are. as always some are ok others not so great. let’s see what next week brings.

August 11, 2011 | Art, SG, Sketching | 3 comments

Daily Diary – August 10 2011

I am trying to post early today because I have guests coming today and a meeting later so I am just sneaking this in. I love this photo of Nathaniel with his blanket. Look at those eyes.

I love David’s smiles.

especially the huge ones.

then I told him to make a funny face.

within minutes, the little one was making it too.

I love how he’s looking at his brother to make sure he has it right.

And this, my friends, is life with boys.

I love my boys. Crazy as they are.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for good, solid work today.
2. I am grateful for guests tonight.
3. I am grateful for my wonderfully clean house.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I got a rocks and minerals sticker book. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I got a pokemon book.
3. I am grateful that I played with my legos.

August 10, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | Leave a comment

A Book a Week – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

I have been meaning to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for months and months and months but never got around to doing it. So when it was chosen for book club recently, I decided it was a sign and I finally got the audio files so I could listen to it while I worked or did art.

I’m so glad I finally did. The story of Henrietta Lacks and history of privacy and tissue samples and scientific revolutions is completely fascinating. Rebecca Skloot weaves the story and the science together beautifully, captivating the reader and making her think at the same time.

I really really enjoyed this one and recommend it.

August 10, 2011 | Books Read in 2011, Literature | Leave a comment

Soul Restoration 2 – My Thoughts

Since I wrote my thoughts about Soul Restoration 1, I wanted to make sure to tell you a bit about the second class as well.

Here’s bits of the outline Melody gives in the page about the class:

week 1:Defining Your Unique Self: this week is a lot of journaling, figuring out who you are. I don’t mind journaling at all so I enjoyed this exercise a lot. You can also work on the cover of your journal this week. So here’s mine:

all The Girls’ Paperie products. I talk about it more in the movie below.

week2 is mostly about how these pages end up as tabs in your journal. Here’s a look at mine:

week 2 is also about your mission statement. here’s one of my mission statement pages:

week 3 is setting goals and the vision board. here’s my vision board:

week 4 is minefields: real and imagined obstacles and fears, things that stop you from getting your goals achieved. I don’t have a photo of my art journal but I show it in the video.

week 5 is about rules and how you make decisions in your life. This is a fantastic tool. I talk about it a bit in the video, too. All about how you decide what to do and what not to do. how you use your time and energy. Which is, of course all that matters.

And week 6 is about creating small and bigger tasks to do to achieve your goals/live the life you want so that you can take actionable steps towards them all the time.

This class is an ongoing process. It will take much more than six weeks to complete. But I think it’s worth the effort and I found the class to be extremely valuable.

And finally, I made a little movie to show you my book and tell you a bit more about the class. Please bear in mind, these are my thoughts and opinions. As always, your mileage may vary.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments and I will do my best to reply. As I work on this more throughout the year, I might come and tell you more, too.

August 10, 2011 | Art, Mixed Media, Personal, Thoughts | 12 comments

Even Your Stink Eye Makes my Heart Swell

This is one of the projects I did for Authentique Paper for CHA Summer.

Journaling Reads:
Sweet little boy sometimes when i try to take photos of you, you give me the stink eye because I am not giving you what you want at that moment. but even your stink eye is so very cute. I love you.

August 10, 2011 | Authentique Paper, Layouts, Scrapbooking | 7 comments

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