[from the art room] Journal Making

Had a great day in my art room today. I'm working on upcycling some old books for my etsy shoppe. I've been in business for two whole days and already I need to complain to the management about the lack of a sink up here. Modge Podge is just no fun without proper plumbing support.

Also need to work on my mess....sheesh! xo

Determined Monday!

cantaloupe growing through my fence and bowing it out - a melon can destroy a fence...who knew?

my first day home with kids in school all day, five days...time to get to work!

many many many photography skills to work on...here's something I'm practicing with...

My business officially opened today. It will launch on October 4th. I'm drowning in lists, but one thing I established today is that every Tuesday all day I'll be making art. And I'm going to stick to it...can't wait. Hope you'll check in tomorrow. xo!

Happy Friday from the House O' Crazy!

Yesterday at noon? No plan for dog number 2.... Today at noon? Puppy adoption underway. Her name is Luna, she's a rescue and she's just as dear as can be.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! xo

Starting fresh...

(new paints...sigh...)

We have officially taken our house off the market. The weekend was dreamy because even though it will filled with chores and caretaking, all said tasks were done in a different spirit. We weren't cleaning to impress the next stranger who might come in, we were cleaning to re-claim the house as ours and this was a huge blessing.

We're not even talking about what we're going to do next - we still want to downsize and this house is not getting smaller. But the next step will show itself to us I believe - we're not going to force it this time. And I also believe that this house may be our perfect place - we just need to give it some time and see where life leads...

So here is my list of things I would like to do to officially re-claim the house as our own (warning - many of these goals are wayyyyyy too lofty for reality):

1. Repaint youngest's room in several 6-year-old-delighting colors rather than in "please the client taupe"

2. Repaint family room in a bold sea green

3. Buy a bonzai tree (more on this later)

4. Get a second dog (?!?!?!)

5. Take out big, ugly tree that shades our vege garden ($$$)

6. Buy new towels and rug for kids' bathroom and donate the ones used for staging (too conservative)

7. Mess up (ahem...reorganize) garage so kids can find everything by themselves

8. Have a party!!!!!

Wishing you a week of gratitude! xo

goals & gratuitous mushy gushy

So as I approach my 100th post, I'm assessing my goals for this blog, what I want to communicate through it, etc. Without a doubt, I post too often about my family and use way too many nature pics. I love 'em...but they're not meant to be the focus of goodness recycled.

After September 1st, I will post mostly about either works in progress (and completed), classes I'm teaching, the creative process, artists I love, inspiration, etc. I won't completely stop blogging about my family - they are (of course!) right there at the foundation of my creative self. But there will be a more diverse set of posts and people who are new to my blog will identify it first as an artsy blog. That's my hope anyway.

I'll share goals soon, but another thing I've realized is that every 100 posts or so I should give a shout out to my husband. I won't post about our anniversaries or our birthdays...but a picture every 100 posts does seem to be appropriate. So here we are in Sacramento this summer. The picture quality is horrible, but the picture itself captures how I think of him/us. Comfortable, together, casual, thankful (I see it in there, I do!).

Thanks for all the support baby. Love you.

Ok, now back to our regularly scheduled programming! xo

Inspired!

[Mountain Dandelion, Idaho, 2010]

I'm baaaaaaaack....and with few to no stories about literally getting lost! Losing track of time though? Plenty - and whew was it terrific. My kids still have three weeks left in their summer, so I'll be here sporadically until September and then watch out. I have big plans for this blog and my business that will share its name. I have so many ideas, deadlines, projects in the works. I'm also going to re-vamp the blog a bit to make it more art- and creativity-focused. This is my 91st post and I'm planning to have three separate giveaways to celebrate my 100th post, so please stay tuned! xo