And here’s another one of my weeklong pages. This one was inspired by Christy Tomlinson. This piece specifically. I pretty much copied it to the best of ability. (Though I still like hers better.)
Here it is empty:
I put tissue paper all over the background. Painted, and then did my dress on top.
here it is, closer up:
It was quite hard to write on it with all the tissue paper so even though i like the effect, i won’t be using it again. Here’s left:
here’s one i took in progress:
And the right side:
And here’s the filled page:
I like this one. It was fun even though it was hard to write on. This is definitely one of my favorite projects of all time, so glad I discovered 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.
I woke up this morning to a bunch of work. A whole bunch more than I had intended to have but alas some mornings are like that. And the little boy took forever to nap and when he woke up he played that game with me where he had his back to me and acted like I wasn’t there.
And then turned around with a big smile (yes a blurry one but so so cute!).
And then his brother gave me a smile too.
and I got this sweet one of Nathaniel.
he was just in a good good mood.
There was much hugging as well.
Look at the joy on David’s face.
And then when David and I worked on his workbooks Nathaniel played with his stickers.
It was a stressful day but it’s almost over and I have a phone call scheduled for tonight and I plan to do some art and some journaling. I will relax and prepare for tomorrow. I will make sure I get a lot of sleep as well. I know that works. It always does.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that things to seem to be working out at work. Crossing fingers still.
2. I am grateful for some quiet time tonight, I need it.
3. I am grateful for today. I am grateful for every single day. Even when they are stressful. I am so grateful for everything I have.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched Nanny McPhee {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that mommy got me a game on the phone.
3. I am grateful that there’s school tomorrow.
This is the second layout I shared on the Scrapbook and Cards Today blog.
Journaling Reads:
I decided at the end of last year that we needed more photos of all four of us together so now we take family photos each weekend. Not only are these some of my favorite shots but they are also some of our most fun moments together. Hooray for awesome new projects.
Everything except for the letters is from the Little Yellow Bicycle Elizabeth Park line
And some details:
What a wonderfully full day we’ve had here. We started off our morning with some family shots (after I exercised of course). The kids were distracted with other things.
Like my watch. Or the remote.
We kept asking Nathaniel where the camera was (to get him to look at it.)
Tickle time.
Then we celebrated Nathaniel’s birthday with a little cupcake (we’re having a birthday celebration for him next weekend since his birthday happened to fall on easter.)
He was skeptical about the cupcake and the candles.
But once I gave him a spoonful of icing, he decided to give it another chance.
And even gave me a smile.
Then it was time for the egg hunt. I told David to leave the easy ones for Nathaniel.
Last year, Nathaniel sat on the grass and cried the whole time. This year, he seemed to get into the spirit of it.
He picked up the eggs.
And put them in his basket (which is a halloween one since David had the easter one and I didn’t have two.)
He even found a few David didn’t.
The last one was the trickiest for all of them, here’s David looking for it.
Our eggs had jelly beans in them this year and they got to eat only a few eggs each. We then watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang together (which I LOVED as a kid) and I sort of knew the sugar would get in the way of naptime but I tried anyway. While Nathaniel played in his bed, I sketched and David worked on his workbooks. We’d already read our book for the day so after we were done, we picked up the little boy who was still not sleeping and ate lunch. I did my leg lifts, etc and now we’re all relaxing. Family night began early tonight with The Wizard of Oz and a picnic in the living room.
All my boys are watching with great joy. And another Sunday is almost over. This week will be a bit rough but I am feeling rested and happy. So bring it on!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a full and wonderful day with my boys.
2. I am grateful that I got to watch two of my favorite childhood movies .
3. I am grateful for my simple but wonderful life.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched chitty chitty bang bang {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that family night is watching the Wizard of Oz tonight.
3. I am grateful for easter candy.
David says:
I gave this story five stars because I really liked the trick behind what made the green ghost appear. I also liked what Mr. Won did with the life pearls.
I thought it was very clever of Bob to pretend like he was hypnotized even though he was awake so he could write the notes. And I thought what 39 meant in the notes was interesting. But I didn’t like that Mr. Won tried to hypnotize the three boys.
I didn’t like that Harold was mean to his aunt and tried to trick her.. I also didn’t like that Jensen double-crossed Harold. I also didn’t like that the pearls got crushed and that Jensen grabbed Pete when he was surrounded by the police.
I liked that Jupiter figured out what happened because of the way the dog behaved when the ghost appeared.
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.
Happy Saturday. I didn’t have any plans today so I just woke up and did my usual things but I did them more slowly with more patience. I exercised and then we took family photos. Here’s David as I am setting up.
The boys both really want to use the remote.
Still looking for it while I’m trying to get a shot.
Today’s Nathaniel’s last day as a little boy. Tomorrow he will be a two-year-old.
After the shots, David and I read our book together. We gave Nathaniel a whole bunch of stickers to occupy himself with. Then it was time for Nathaniel to nap, David to play wii and mommy to sketch. We all did our work and then Nathaniel woke up and we all ate lunch and then there was more resting and relaxing.
Nathaniel kept hugging his brother again and again. I always seem to catch these a split second too late. He’s so cute, he opens his hands so they’re behind him before he hugs all big.
Then I worked on my art journal for a bit and now we’re going to go out to a family dinner. Something small and nearby. There’s been a lot of eating out this week and I am sure I will regret it when I get weighed next week but I am trying to be careful and eat as well as I can. The rest of the night will be hugging and snuggling up with Jake. Tomorrow’s a big day between the birthday and easter and family night and I am looking forward to it.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a quiet day and some snuggle time with both my kids (and Jake’s coming up too).
2. I am grateful for my family. I can’t believe the little boy’s going to be two tomorrow. How did time pass so quickly?
3. I am grateful for all the Tv I have saved up. I love having the TV on when I do art.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I will play Wii {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we’re going out to dinner.
3. I am grateful tomorrow’s Nathaniel’s birthday and easter.
jake
Good week for Jake! He made a lot of progress in his business. Several clients came on at once and things are rolling now. Thankfully. He’s been getting up early every day this week since he doesn’t have to be around to take David to the bus. He goes to work super-early and comes home to give kids dinner. He’s been so awesome. He also drove us all the way to Santa Cruz and back and played with the kids for hours. It’s so much fun for me to watch the way the kids hug him each time he’s around.
karen
Good week for me. I pushed the Beta out the door, coordinated everything I have to do for work and then we left for our vacation. I am still sketching every day and working hard at it. Same with the exercise and leg lifts and I feel tired but peaceful. I feel like I am relaxed and making progress. Slowly, but I feel no sense of rush. I am glad we went on vacation, it really relaxed me.
david
David was off school all week. Spring break. He played, read, colored, played some more, and was all-around happy. During vacation, he was grouchy at times but I think he’s overall happy. More like a typical six-year-old, he’s happy when he gets exactly his way and whiny and pouty when he doesn’t. He does do everything I ask, though and he writes and reads every day and we’re working on our book together, too. So I feel like on average, he’s such a good boy and I am so very grateful.
nathaniel
This is Nathaniel’s last week as a one-year-old. Tomorrow he turns two. He’s such a cutie patootie. Though he’s been a lot more work lately, as well. He whines and complains when he doesn’t get his way. He’s gotten really good at expressing his opinion and if he doesn’t like what you offer, he’s very good about letting you know what he thinks about that, too. I love my little, little boy so much!!
Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
So right before I went to bed last night, I realized I didn’t have my notebook. This is the notebook where I journal, sketch and write my daily todo lists. I live with this thing. I couldn’t possibly imagine having left it at home so I was sure I lost it. Let’s just say it put a sour end to a lovely day.
But I went to bed and despite Nathaniel waking up several times and a raging headache, I still woke up happy and after a bit of getting everyone settled, I went to the gym. And when I came back, we thought it would be fun to take a walk down to the beach. They had these golf carts that take you down to the beach and I knew David would want to ride one so we took it down to the beach.
Once we got there, everyone was happy. At least fascinated.
David was happy.
Nathaniel was watching the waves.
And his brother.
Who ran right into the sand.
And kicked around.
And laughed.
And went running.
The colors are off on this one but I still like it.
We walked all the way up the path and I took tons of flower photos on the way up. And then we went into the lobby and rested by the fire.
Then it was time to check out so we packed up and got out of there. We drove down to the Santa Cruz boulevard and Jake and David played video games while Nathaniel napped in the car and I sat with him and did my sketch. When he woke up I tried to get him to sit on the driver seat but he was mighty cranky.
They came back and we all walked to the boardwalk and the boys all had some food as we enjoyed the fresh air.
We walked back to the car and headed home and guess what? my notebook was here!! So it all worked out! The kids are now in bed (well David’s playing in his room but the little one’s in bed.) and we’re watching 30 Rock and I will then journal and do my art journal and blissfully go sleep. It was a truly sweet and wonderful vacation and, like always, it’s wonderful to be home.
I also wanted to say, thank you for your kind words about my “random thoughts” post this week. I didn’t mean to cause a ruckus. I actually feel much better inside than I ever remember feeling and I am not sad in any way. When I said “i might be a nobody” I meant that I am not a big name in the industry and thus a million opportunities don’t come my way each day which makes each of them harder to turn down. I didn’t mean for that to sound so out of proportion. Also, while I can feel not as talented as I wish I were, I don’t ever let it stop me and I still sketch and art journal and work on improving myself so I can be happy with me. I appreciate your kind words deeply but as you know it’s always more about how one feels about oneself. Which is why I am working on finding my way with art and sketching. I did it with scrapping and it’s been wonderful. I am also doing it with exercise/food so I can be more at peace with my body and that’s wonderful, too. So I know I can, I am just working on it.
Same goes for the “hang ups” from my childhood. I spent some time in a dark place over that but I am not anymore. For me, all these thoughts are coming out of paying attention and stepping back being more aware which is the first step to being free. I feel much more in a good place with all of this. Everyone has issues. These are some of mine. I am working on them and sharing them, analyzing them, thinking about them is all part of the process for me. I didn’t mean to worry anyone and like before I deeply appreciate your kindness but please know that I am in a good place. I have the most wonderful life. The best kids in the world and the most amazing, supportive and loving husband. I have a great job, friends, home, family and I love what I do in my free time. I couldn’t possibly ask for anything more. I am grateful every minute of every day and, it is because I feel so much happier that I can now notice these things, think about them and talk about them and work on them. Just wanted to make sure you knew not to worry.
But I am so touched by all your words. I am so so grateful. Thank you. It means the world to me.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for our sweet vacation. It was exactly what I hoped it would be.
2. I am grateful for another two days off to relax.
3. I am grateful I found my notebook!
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched TV{* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played video games with daddy.
3. I am grateful that we walked on the boardwalk and went to the beach.
Well, ignoring the glitch from the last two weeks, it appears we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming. The slow and steady weight-loss. I must admit that getting on the wii each week is not something I look forward to. I could never be one of those people who’s obsessed with the scale and the numbers. Just seeing them once a week is enough for me. I guess as long as they are declining, it’s all good. I will focus on working out instead.
Exercise is still going ok. 2.9 has been rougher this week, maybe because I am tired which is odd since I’ve been sleeping more than usual. I’ve noticed that my ease with the exercise is cyclical. Some weeks it’s super hard, then bearable, than more manageable. It’s never super easy but there are days where I don’t absolutely feel like I might fall over. And then there are days where I just don’t think I can make it. But you know what? I do. I always do.
And some more photos of me wearing some of the clothes I bought as rewards. I love this skirt and though it doesn’t show my thinner figure, I am going to enjoy wearing it now that the weather is nicer.
and here’s this week’s card:
Healthy for Life is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
One of my Pink Paislee projects for this month was to lift a member from the Live Pink gallery. Here’s my layout:
and here’s the amazing layout I lifted by Diana Brodeur
I am a huge white-space fan and the softness of this layout really spoke to me. I loved that it was asymmetrical and I also loved the little layered elements. So when creating my layout, I replaced her circle with a heart (I am too scared to mist, so I didn’t even try that even though I absolutely love the misting she did on her layout.) I then layered my ephemera.
While the layout has several elements I use on most of my pages (I stitched a border and around the heart and I put an edgie on the right top corner) I think the look and feel of it is definitely similar to Diane’s stunning original.
Journaling Reads:
My sweet son when you were born I fell so deeply in love with you that I did no think there was any way I could love you any more. But I was wrong . As you grow more and more each day, my love for you grows too. I am so proud of you and so thankful that you’re my boy. I love you more and more every day.
Details:
Early in the week, we thought it might be nice to do a quickie get away so we got up and I exercised, sketched, and then packed. Off we went on our car trip. An hour and half later, we checked into the hotel and went to lunch. Where the little boy colored.
And the big boy colored.
Then I took a mirror shot just for fun.
And one of my beautiful older son.
Then we came back to the hotel and the boys watched TV, this shows you why TV is not so great for you.
The other boy was awestruck, too.
As we relaxed the boys had fun sharing a chair.
They laughed and laughed.
And then David read to Nathaniel.
Which made both of us cry tears of joy a bit. It’s been the perfect vacation so far. A lot of relaxing and the kids are still up even though it’s well past bed time but they are enjoying it here, too so we’re making an exception for this one day. Short and sweet is how we like our vacations.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for being with my family and beautiful sunshine and ocean.
2. I am grateful for a day off work, relaxing and being present.
3. I am grateful for my husband who did all the driving as he always does.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I went on a trip {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played with legos
3. I am grateful that I watched Jeopardy.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately again and like before I originally thought these would end up as individual posts but I can’t seem to find the time (or more like motivation) to sit and write it all out so I am going to try this quicker version instead.
17. I read a young adult book last week where the main character was in high school and she’s super popular. In the story, the girl is living her last day (she dies in a car crash) and then gets up the next morning to live her last day again (and again and again.) There are many plot points but the gist of it is that several small and big events happen on this one day and as she relives the day she changes events. The obvious part is that the small things we do (or don’t do) have profound effects on others (and us.) But the part that really really blew my mind was completely unrelated. At some point in the story, one of these super-popular girls (let’s call her L) does something mean (she writes something nasty and a girl’s name on a wall which then others copy all over the school.) Later on, as her friend is re-living her days she mentions that L had no ill-will towards this girl whose name she scrawled on the wall. The dead girl tells us it was completely random. She says in all likeliness L was testing a new pen and needed something to scrawl. It’s that random. That’s what struck me. I had a lot of mean friends as a kid and while some might have been a bit personal, most weren’t. They were random, they didn’t mean anything at all. Nothing. And yet, I’ve carried it and lived with it and defined myself around these meannesses for most of my life. I am sure I am not expressing this clearly because I promise you that it was life changing for me. It has shifted me to my core to have this realization and I am still digesting it.
18. Something else I noticed last week is that our dreams constantly shift and change. At least mine do. And it’s important to pay attention so that you don’t accidentally walk into some path that you’re actually no longer interested in. I had this realization because something I wished deeply for a year ago suddenly popped up in my life last week. It was an incredible opportunity, almost as if this person had read my wish list. And yet, when the opportunity came up, I felt no excitement. Actually I felt a little sad because I knew it had been such a dream and here it was coming true and I didn’t really care for it. It felt cumbersome. The important part here is to continually pay attention to the path you are walking to ensure it’s still moving in the direction you intend to move. Things change and if we don’t pay attention we find ourselves on a road we don’t really want to be on anymore.
19. This is a bit similar to the one above but another lesson I learned is that just because someone else is giving you an opportunity doesn’t mean you should take it. For me, especially in areas where I have less confidence, it’s really hard to turn down an opportunity. I always think “who am i to say no?” I feel like I am not qualified or important enough to refuse this person. The more important the person, the harder it is to say no. And, yet, just cause someone wants you doesn’t mean it’s a right fit. Just cause an opportunity came doesn’t mean you should take it. I’ve learned to step back and look at the opportunity carefully, think of the commitment in time, effort, stress and also the rewards and then make my decision. I might be a nobody but my time and effort are still valuable (especially since it means I will not be spending it on my loved ones.) Another lesson learned the hard way.
20. Another book I read this week taught me the lesson of how so many things that happen to me are actually smaller than they seem. The way things work is like this: something bad happens, i decide it means this one thing,from then on anything that’s even remotely related feeds my original idea of what it means and I let it grow bigger and bigger and bigger until it consumes me. For example: let’s say I am a writer wannabe. I send in a story, it doesn’t get picked up. I decide it means I’m not talented. From thereon, any even slightly negative comment on any message board, or from a friend just feeds my story that I am not talented. “She must have meant that I suck.” When I see another friend get published, it also means I’m not talented. It couldn’t possibly mean she worked night and day and submitted ten times more often than I did. Because my story is that I am not talented and I’m sticking to it no matter what. See the signs of self-sabotage here? I create a bad story and then I feed it forever. I realized how when I do this, I am basically looking for opportunities to feed my story. I make everything and anything about me. I don’t have to take responsibility anymore because it’s all happening to me and it’s all part of my story. Whereas if I didn’t have this story/idea, each event would be a single (likely) small and random instance. I wouldn’t even notice some and I would pass by the others. This taught me to pay attention to my stories. To how I am feeding them. To back up and pay attention so I can stop.
Random thoughts are occasional blathering by me. Here are part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 .
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projects for twenty twenty-six
projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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