art every day month: day 3

Sidewalk Type

Art Every Day Month at Creative Every Day.

My son needed to practice writing out the letters s, a, f, c, q, d, g, o. Instead of wasting a sheet of paper I suggested we head outside with some chalk. Fun! I wrote out my letters alongside him. Then I asked him to choose a picture for me to draw to go with each letter.

s for sea

a for apple

f for fish

c for cactus

q for quarter

d for dog

g for ghost

o for octopus

To view the posts of other AEDM members for Day 3 click here.

art every day month: day 2

Fall sketches with a magical horse thrown in for a little whimsy.

Art Every Day Month at Creative Every Day.

To view the posts of other AEDM members for Day 2 click here.

art every day month: day 1

Here I am at 9pm on Art Every Day Month (AEDM) day 1 with no art to show. Oh well, that's okay. I'll use today as an introduction and get started tomorrow, day 2. I have been a blog reader and participator of Creative Every Day since I started my blog. In the past I have been a bit intimidated about joining Art Every Day Month hosted by Leah every November. I question where I'm going to find the time but, I decided to give it a go this year. I have the desire to create more art in general so. I am going for it to stretch my creativity and to see what transpires!

om: giving in to my yoga mat

Breathe

All week I have had yoga on my mind. I have been admiring Art Asana's 2012 Yoga Pose Desk Calendar by Eliza Tobin, I have been listening to the ambient yogi sounds of Desert Dwellers, I even wrote down the word "connected" in my sketchbook this week because I was feeling so very unconnected. Deep down I have been yearning for the mind body connection I receive when practicing yoga.

When I cancelled my gym membership in August I was sad to no longer have my yoga and dance classes available to me but, I thought I would put a new self motivated routine in place. I had the highest hopes for yoga since it is something you can do anywhere with as much or as little time as you have. But I underestimated my need for having a specific class time in place and having an atmosphere that feels good to practice in. I have been saying to myself just do it already but, at the same I think ... I have other things to accomplish, it isn't quiet enough, I am not in the right head space for letting go and stretching deeply and so I wait for another "better" time.

Last night I finally gave in to my yoga mat. It wasn't the most opportune time but, I said to myself enough is enough, I need this. I pulled out my mat and started stretching while Bert watched the world series right next to me. I tuned out the tv, I breathed, I stretched and I felt great. I felt my body lighten, make space, felt my inner strength and focus arise and my stress melt away. Feeling just how stiff and tense I was during my practice awakened me to just how far I am from the flexible and centered self I was just a few months ago. In class my yoga teacher would remind us that a flexible body is a flexible mind.That saying always resonated with me and right now my body is rigid, tense and very far removed from where I want it to be. Why do I deny myself the things that make me feel so good, so peaceful, so connected, so loved? What is it inside that makes me rebel against self care?

One Moment [OM] is a weekly meet up that promotes living in the moment.  Whether funny, sad, ridiculous, or banal, looking for these moments can promote balance in our lives. I decided to join in the fun. You may want to too – you can read more about it here.

new handmade recycled bottle cap magnet sets

Handmade magnet sets are a wonderful little gift idea for teachers, co-workers, party hostesses, new jobs, birthdays and of course for the holidays. Here are some new recycled bottle cap magnet sets I have for sale in my etsy shop. They come in a set of 6 and arrive in a gift giving tin. The super strong magnet will hold several sheets of paper making these beautiful and functional!

Striped Recycled Bottle Cap Magnets - $12

 

Abstract Recycled Bottle Cap Magnets - $12

 

Recycled Envelope Bottle Cap Magnets - $12

 

Polka Dot Recycled Bottle Cap Magnets - $12

 

sketching feathers

personalized scrabble artwork

I have a dear friend who loves scrabble and is getting married in 2 weeks! As a gift for her and her soon to be husband, I painted them these personalized initial scrabble tiles. I do not usually paint so precisely but, they were totally worth the extra effort of measuring and using guidelines. I thought these little paintings turned out really sweet and she just loved them. It brings me joy knowing that the paintings with bring them joy in their new home.  

Scrabble Pin Board

To quickly find scrabble inspiration I browsed the lovely world of Pinterest. Do you love scrabble or know someone who does? These fun scrabble inspired items I pinned would make great gifts! See my Scrabble Pin Board.

my first seasonal dream board | ced: autumn

One of my creative goals is to make seasonal dream boards. This month's Creative Every Day theme is Autumn and that fit right in with me wanting to start a fall dream board so, yesterday I finally got to it. It has taken me sooo long to get myself psyched up to start a dream board but, once I started it only took 30 minutes to complete. I choose all sorts of things to inspire me for the season: recipes, home decor, paper goods, plants and flowers, colors and sayings. I think this will be a really great way to make use of all the wonderful magazines I have lying around and get me excited for each season, I don't know why it has taken me so long to embrace the whole idea of a dream board, but I am happy I finally did! I choose a simple cork board and push pins setup so I can easily rotate the images each season and if something isn't working for me or I come across a new piece of inspiration I simply change it up in the moment.

Have you created a dream board or vision board? I'd love to hear how you used one to help manifest your dreams!

sketching butterflies

Here's a peek inside my watercolor sketchbook, this time I created butterflies! We have more flowers in the yard in our new home then we did previously and I have been enjoying butterfly and hummingbird sightings in the mornings. It's magical to watch them flutter about.

om: moving day

Friday was moving day! It is crazy to see all our stuff boxed up and waiting to move. I have been de-cluttering and simplifying for almost 2 years and I have to say I was pretty surprised to see how much stuff we have now that's all in one place and it's a lot more then I thought! For my one moment today, I will say goodbye to our current home and welcome in our new one.

We moved in to our current home when my youngest son was 6 months old and my oldest was 3. This house has been such a blessing to us. The open floor plan gave us visibility to everything which is great with little ones toddling around. The room we designated as the kids playroom was open to the kitchen, dining room and den and has been just perfect. The circular skylights in the great room allowed so much natural light into our home that we rarely had to turn on the lights during the day. And on the rare occasion of a cloudy day the whole house would darken and lighten with each passing cloud and that is such a strange and magical feeling to have inside your home. The laminate wood, tile floors and wood blinds throughout made the home much more comfortable for our allergenic family then the heavy curtains and wall to wall carpeting we had previously. It also made for easy cleanup when doggies made messes, things spilled, play dough was sculpted or we had an art play day. The sizable yard gave us ample space to play and entertain. The huge garage allowed me to carve out a little art studio of sorts and that has made me really happy. And lastly the community has been excellent. It is beautiful, well-kept with lots of amenities we have loved like pools, playgrounds, trails and tennis courts. Goodbye wonderful home, we thank you for the memories!

In our new rental home I welcome the intimate space and the cozy den feeling my husband and I grew up with. I welcome the kitchen being slightly out of the way so, I hopefully can't see any unfinished business in there as I'm relaxing on the couch. I welcome carpeting back in our life to help with sound control (two young boys can be pretty loud)! I welcome our first ever doggie dog for our golden retriever Chloe. I hope she loves it as much as we do :) I welcome a playroom with a door and full walls - again to help with sound control, haha. I welcome a sweet little backyard with enough space to play but not too much to manage. I welcome the really pretty patio tile and fans to relax on. I welcome the pretty mountain view outside our front door that I will see every time I come and go. I welcome us home.

One Moment [OM] is a weekly meet up that promotes living in the moment.  Whether funny, sad, ridiculous, or banal, looking for these moments can promote balance in our lives. I decided to join in the fun. You may want to too – you can read more about it here.