Art Projects 2014

Here are some art projects Lucy and I worked on this year.

An old pen drawing from 2012's goal that I decided to watercolor over, while Lucy did her own paintings. 

Coloring the foam star for the top of her wand.

Lucy working on making her own wand. 

Lucy got an Ed Emberly book from Boyd for her birthday. I showed her how to follow each step in the book in order to create each creature. You can see my example, and her creation right next to it. These were so much fun to do together. 

The monkeys.

I woke up to this Valentine on my night stand one morning. What a sweetie. 

Lucy's pumpkin patch. 

Lucy's first castle. 

A really fun Hers and Mine project. Used flaps from cardboard boxes to draw ornaments with permanent marker. Then let Lucy use markers and colored pencils to decorate them. 

And mine. I used a gold pen, silver permanent marker, colored pencils, and a fine tip permanent marker to outline. I loved this project. It was relaxing to work on while watching Christmas movies together. 

I found this note folded up in a little tube in my bathroom. Lucy said it was for Clara. 

Envelope Drawings

Another fun goal for the year was to draw more and I was inspired by this post which showed envelope drawings.

I started by illustrating the envelopes of thank you notes we were sending out, along with some random "letters" that Lucy insisted on mailing. Then I posted the finished products on my Instagram.

Then I decided to decorate all the envelopes that went with my visiting teaching letter route. Which ended up being seventeen?

I really enjoyed this project! It can be hard to find suitable photo references, especially when looking for so many! I like the first batch of realistic black and white flower drawings best, but I think I might need to get a flower book for future drawings.

Hers and Mine Artwork

Two of the fun things I wanted to do this year was draw more, and share more art.

I decided to start a series of drawing with Lucy called "Hers and Mine" and posted the results on Instagram.

Here are the results so far!

The start: Lucy not really grasping my vision of matching drawings yet.
Photo reference from an Google Image search.

One of my favorites! Matching Anchorage Alaska Temples.

A mother baboon and her baby: Photo reference from Reed Miller

Butterfly: Photo reference from kids book.

Tractor: Photo reference from kids book.

Piglet: Photo reference from a kids book.

The woodland kingfisher: Image reference from Reed Miller.

Lucy loves looking through animal pictures on my computer to pick out our next subject matter for these drawings.

This was a great opportunity to teach Lucy some drawing skills, and was a fun drawing exercise to do together. Hopefully Lucy will be interested in continuing it in the future!

2014: This Year I Will...

It's a little late being posted, but after some thought, here are ten fun things I would like to do this year. Some of which I have already started!



Let's do this!

Via.

1. Read More:
I got a few books for Christmas that I'm excited to read, Steal Like An Artist and Parenting with Love and Logic. (Maybe even finish Daring to Be Yourself, from last years unfinished goal.)

I love to read and want to make more time to do it!




2. Write more love letters:
In my Book Arts class in college I made a little blue book and gave it to Zach as a gift. It's the "card that keeps on giving". Instead of buying a card each holiday, anniversary, etc. I just open the book and fill in a new page or two.

I've glued in family pictures, written lists of things I love about him, and written about what I am doing to make our home a place of love. I've written in it when he was deployed, and when we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our babies.

I love having a place where all those wonderful memories and sentiments are all bound together in one place.

My goal for this year is to use it more!




3. Daughter parties:
I want to purposefully create more fun memories with Lucy and Clara.

Some ideas: tea parties, massage circles, makeovers, etc. The idea is to purposefully create more positive experiences with Lucy. If anyone would like to come over for some of these, let me know!

Here are some examples of someone who inspires me with all the fun things they do with their daughters:
Here. 
Here.
Here.
Here.




4. Use up art supplies I already own:
Over the years I've collected an assortment of art supplies from various places. I hate hoarding and storing things for no reason, so I would love to "downsize" my collection and finally put it to good use. Lucy will most likely be involved in this process.




5. Draw more:
Maybe do envelope drawings? Drawing is such a satisfying experience for me, that it makes my list of goals once again.




6. Share more art:
This relates to the above goal of drawing more.

I am inspired by this post to post my creations on Instagram and put more of myself out there, as well as "follow" more artists. I do miss the amazing community of creative minds you have while in school taking art classes. I always love discovering the inspiring works of others.




7. Family pictures:
Time for an updated family picture. We haven't had one since Peter was born. I would also like to get pictures of the girls together and solo. Included in this goal is framing and hanging them in our new home.




8.  Meet our neighbors:
At Christmas we brought treats and introduced ourselves to the people who live on either side of us. It was so great to just break the ice right at the beginning and let them know who we are, and get to know them too.

My goal for this year is to meet our new neighbor who just moved in, and also introduce ourselves to the ones across the street from us.




9. Teach more:
In December I was called to serve as a Sunday school (Primary) teacher for the 7-8 year olds in our congregation. Earlier this month I was released from that assignment and called to be the teacher for the 16-18 year old girls. I love diving back into teaching and especially reviewing all the training materials my church provides. They are so good!

For this goal I want to reach beyond traditional church teaching and share some of my talents and passions, and pass the knowledge on. A lovely lady I've made friends with has inspired me by offering free piano and sewing lessons to other women in our church. I love her willingness to share and teach her talents to others.

Some ideas might be: making boutineers, watercolor painting, drawing, braiding, book making, etc.

Any other ideas of things I could offer to teach? I could even post a tutorial on here? What are some things you wish someone would teach you for free?




10. Go to a show:
Ideally, a great Broadway show, but I would settle for a fun high school production. I love the thrill of live theater and musicals.

Anyone in the area interested in seeing a show with me? Possibly buying cheap season tickets? Hit me up and let me know! It is always much more fun to share experiences like this with others.

Via.

Alright! Anyone else doing fun things this year!? Please post in the comments below! I am always on the lookout for new ideas.

2013 Goal Review: Six Months

We are six months in (halfway), let's see where we are in our yearly goals! Hopefully we are halfway through these as well!


1. Make homemade bread in the oven:
Nope. I think this one will have to wait until the fall/winter part of the year when the weather is cooler. 
Anyone have a great bread recipe to recommend?


2. Chalkboard frame and drawings:
Been loving it!  "How to" found here, January, February, April (before), April (after), etc. More to come!


3. Professional Massage:
Not yet! Can't really enjoy this one while pregnant, recovering from delivery/c-section, or nursing a new baby. Hopefully I will be able to accomplish this one later on in the year though. 


4. Organize and downsize jewelry collection:
I did sell a few pieces in a garage sale last week! (So, that's kind of like halfway accomplishing this goal?) I still need to organize my jewelry box and set aside pieces to save for Lucy and Clara. 


5. Have fresh flowers in my home:
Done! We started with planting some flowers and watching them grow in the windowsill. Lucy also loves picking weeds flowers from our yard and having me display them in a vase on the kitchen table. I've also picked some of our roses to enjoy.


6. Make some hair clips for Lucy:
Done! See here. I still plan on making more before the year is out. Lately she has been wearing that heart clip daily. I think I need to whip out a few more. I would also like to make some headbands for Clara.


7. Fill another sketch book: 
Haven't started. First, I need to pick the notebook, then just get going!

Um, so this is a little more than a "sketch", but good inspiration to remind me of what I was once capable of!

8. Finish reading Daring to Be Yourself:
Hm. Haven't even picked it up again. Good thing the year is not over yet! This will be a good one to work on while on family trips. 


9. Do a new art project with Lucy every month:
So fun! And pretty good so far. When I made this goal I kind of forgot that I would be dealing with pregnancy and an additional child/newborn. I may not do a new project every month, but even if I make it to twelve different art projects by the end of the year, I will call it good. So, twelve overall is the new goal!

January: Scrap book
February: Felt clips, TP Roll Cards, Air Dry Clay, Marshmallow Drawing, Love Chalkboard Drawing
March: ?
April: Welcome Chalkboard Drawing
May: Magic Color Markers from Trish
June: Finger paints



10.  Visit Alaska for Christmas:
Oh, it's a dream of mine! We will have to see what things are actually like in the next few months, but I hope we can manage it.

In theory we will be moving sometime between now and the end of the year, so a trip to Alaska might not happen. If it doesn't, maybe we will make it up next summer for my ten year high school reunion? 



So, four (and a half) out of ten! Not bad! That is almost half the goals accomplished by half the year. I honestly thought it would be a lot less than that. It felt like less. 

Here's to the rest of the year! Six more months to fit in five-and-a-half awesome things. 


How are you doing on your fun goals for the year?

Chalkboard Art: April (Before)

Getting ready for baby sister to arrive.

Used some new tips for the lettering on this one. Still have a ways to go though.

Can't wait to meet her!