Water Table Time!

Zach promised Lucy that as soon as the temperature hit 60 degrees that he would fill up the water table for her. This day it hit 81 degrees! A nice heat wave for these water babies to enjoy before it got cold again.

January 20, 2015
Heat wave!

Sweetie sisters. <3

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.

Sister Time

Lucy loves being a big sister and tries to do as much as she can (that we will let her) with Clara. I love to see her giving love and affection to her baby sister, and hearing Lucy tell Clara how much she loves her.

Music to a mama's ears.

Here's to best friends that you are born with!

Nana Time

Lucy loves her Nana time. We were lucky enough to have Zach's mom, dad, and sister come visit us in anticipation of the new baby and to help out. Lucy took full advantage of the one-on-one time she got from Nana, Poppa, and Jenna- and loved every minute of it!

Lucy's Scrapbook

Lucy always wants to look at my Peter book, pictures on my computer, and the little photo album of her ultrasound pictures that used to reside in her room. I'm always protective of my Peter book, and she naughtily took her ultrasound pictures out of the baby album, so I decided we should make a scrapbook/photo album of her own that she could look at whenever she wants and that I don't have to worry about her ruining. 

We already had a big box of kids scrap booking stuff that was a gift from one of Zach's coworkers for Lucy when Peter died. (What a great idea for a gift, huh?) 

I used duplicate photos that I had already used in Lucy's baby book to give her for her scrap book, and I let her pick out what she wanted on each page as I helped her cut and glue. 

Materials:

- Scrapbook kit: Foam covers, blank pages, plastic cover sheets, stickers

- Scissors

- Scrap booking glue

- Bone folder and ruler (for scoring pages so they will bend with the spine of the book)

- Colored pencils

- Fine point pen for writing captions for pictures

Showing Dad her project and telling him about each picture.

We started with her own baby pictures and eventually we will continue to add more pages and she will have some of her and Peter to look at too.

I let her pick out the stickers and put them on herself.

Line up the ruler and use the bone folder to score the paper so that it bends naturally as you turn the pages.

Letting Lucy fill in the blank pages between the photos with colored pencil drawings.

I showed her how to trace her hands and scribble-fill the page. She loved this and wanted me to do it for her on every page.


Lucy loved showing off her own scrap book and explaining every little detail. This will be a fun project for us to work on together throughout the year as we add more pages.

Daddy Time: Reading

When Zach comes home from work Lucy runs to the door in excitement and says, "Welcome home! Welcome home!" and gives him a big hug and kiss. 

Usually this leads to wrestling and her being tossed on our bed over and over. 

Sometimes it leads to quiet time with Dad like this. 

Lucy loving some Daddy time.

Off limits to little hands!

Armoir filled with children's books that have tear-able pages.

My two sweethearts.

All of mom's treasure books that are paper instead of indestructible book board.

Gilded Sketch Book Tutorial

I finally got around to adding a "gilded" edge to my sketchbook.  I used gold paint as a thrifty way to get the pretty effect I was going for.  

Here is my attempt!

Supplies:

Gold paint

Sponge brush

Book

Binder clip

Directions:

1. Make pages as uniform and clean cut as possible. On my rounded corners where the paper doesn't match up perfectly, the effect doesn't look as nice. 

2. Use binder clip to keep pages lined up as you paint.

3. Squirt a small amount of pain onto a plate and drag it out to make a thin line of paint on the edge of your brush.

4. Dry brush the paint onto the end of the book taking care to keep the book cover out of the way. Keep the brush fairly dry and use stipple to get an even coat. 

5. After doing a section on one edge, slide the clip down and finish that side. 

6. *Important! After finishing one side completely, open the book and gently separate every page so that they don't dry stuck together.

7. After top side is completely dry, rotate and repeat steps all around the sides of the book. Make sure to separate and dry each side completely before moving on to the next side of the book.

Stipple until you have a uniform amount of paint on the edge of the brush.

Separate each page as it dries so that they don't get glued together.

I love the addition of the gilded edge on my sketchbook. It elevates it, giving it a little extra something, and makes it a little bit more special.

This would be a great way to add a personalized touch to a journal or book as a gift.