{art journal page #3}

SO...do you want to see it???

Are you sure???

IT MIGHT BE KIND OF SCARY!!!!!!
OK...YOU ASKED FOR IT!!!

Here is my art journal page #3!!!

The word is CONNECT.

I had so many ideas running through my head & finally one afternoon I just sat down and started drawing. Of course, the rough draft then stared at me for a couple of days until I finally sat down & did the final tonight! 'Thanks' to my artistic hubby who taught me some cool techniques (I've only ever played around with watercolor) & for letting me tear into his art stash, including his brushes, transfer paper & watercolor paper. I haven't decided if I am going to include the word CONNECT in my picture. I was planning on it...but now I don't want to "mess it up."

{rough draft}

I used a charcoal pencil on newsprint paper. Then got an idea of colors with watercolor pencils. You color first then brush on the water to give the watercolor effect. The more you brush, the more you wash off the color. {side note...In the beginning I was going to have a phone with the cord spelling the word connect, as you can see here. When Drew saw this he said, "HA! Mom, there's a phone in the tree!!!" Funny how things evolve in art.)

Then I used the transfer paper. (It is a large sheet of tissue like consistency but is black, one side containing graphite...This stuff is GREAT!!) You then place the transfer paper over the paper you want for your final copy. Then place your rough draft on top. Lightly pencil sketch over the lines on the rough draft that you want and you have a basic outline & great guide.

{details}

my inspiration & favorite mug

I originally had the steam "solid" but John said it would be more realistic to have it see-through. I am SO glad I did it this way! I had to paint everything behind the steam separately since it needed to be a much lighter shade.

I LOVE THE CITY!!!

(CHICAGO being close to my heart, but NYC is a close 2nd)

What better way to CONNECT than over a cup of coffee...if that's your cup of tea!

~Good thing I had a looooong nap this afternoon~ This is really not the norm! Although I tend to be a night owl, I no longer have the privilege of sleeping in. :) So tomorrow may be, well, interesting.

SNIP snip

Well, the time has come.

Actually, the time should have been awhile ago, but it happened this past weekend.



Jack got his first haircut!!!



Jack has infamously received the nick-name "hippy baby" from his father.
His hair has grown out adorably and I was secretly wishing he would have curly golden locks of hair. But, alas, it grew pretty straight. And it hung down over his ears soooo far, he really was starting to look kind of hippy. So I took the scissors to his last sign of babyhood. (well...the diapers will probably be the LAST sign of babyhood!) He really did not sit well and Drew was banned from the bathroom in the first minute. But John held on to him and entertained him and made such noises and voices that it was even making me laugh. So here are the pics. Oh, and I forgot to keep a "lock" for his baby book. Baby book...that too. I have a lot to do this year!

:: BEFORE::

{I wish I would have combed it all down in his face. It was really long. It hung well over his eyebrows!}

::THE MOMMY GRIP::

{we have very sharp scissors and he was being soooo fidgety. not to mention drew wanted in on the action and jack kept looking at drew.}

::DISTRACTION::

{and his very cool BEARS t-shirt from his cousin mckenna!}

::AFTER THE BLOW DRY::

{it's freezing...can't let them go to bed with wet hair}

...and some Swartzcopff stylin' serum to finish him off!!!

{For some reason...he looks Dutch in this photo?????}

::THE COMBOVER::

{Irish, German & Italian make up this little boy. Sorry, no Dutch!!!)

And you may be thinking he is cutely smiling in this above picture, but the truth of the matter is that he would not look up. He was so intently playing with that bottle, figuring out how to get the cap off. So I snatched it from him and somehow I got a smiley face...because he was not too happy about this game mommy was playing!

Well, now that we've passed that phase of life...

A Spoonful Of Perspective

Because she said it so much better than I could have: Check out this post that reminded me yet again the importance of keeping our perspective with little ones in the home.

2 DOWN...50 TO GO!!!

Yikes...50 is sounding a little overwhelming right now!

Hopefully I'll get faster each week at this. It is helping me to keep pushing & finishing. I tend to linger too long on projects. This is good for me!

Here's journal entry #2.

The word being FEEL.

And I promise my blog will not be consumed with these journal pages. The boys have been pretty sick and its been soooo cold outside. Nothing too exciting going on in our part of blogger town right now!!! But I do feel a bit of cabin fever sneaking in.

{page #2}

{details}

{Martha Stewart sticker letters; cut out this shape from the cardboard of a vintage roll of ribbon; the "grid" behind is drywall tape painted orange}

{cut out hand from paper bag & crinckled it. then rubbed it with brown shoe polish to age it. 3 black leather flowers for bracelet.}

{the bottom border is cut from a vintage pillow case I bought an an estate sale; lots of different textured ribbon, yarn & twine.}

{wrote lots of things that make me FELL happy; inspired by this tissue paper from papyrus}

{my very bright & colorful page}

A Time To Create...

I want to share something I'm super excited about that I have COMMITted to this year:

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While visiting ARTSYMAMA's blog, I learned of EMILY who is "hosting" a challenge for an ART JOURNAL for 2008. She is posting a word at the beginning of the week for inspiration. The rest is up to the artist!!! I loved the idea but honestly, this last year was a year of "creativity on hold" in the art department. Our stuff is just too un-accessible for it to be enjoyable! So I didn't think I would commit to it. But something happened yesterday! :) I had the thought planted in my mind and when the opportunity siezed itself upon me...my creativity that has been welled up {and from all the creative blogs I've been observing}...I plunged in head first to begin the journey of AN ART JOURNAL.

I am SO excited & I don't think I will be able to turn back. Don't know if I'll be able to keep at it every week; but it was like therapy sitting and creating.

{page #1}

{this page has very humble beginnings!! I grabbed my sea sponge, pop-up sponge, used my son's box of crayola's, Elmer's glue, and added some of my fun glitter, circle punch, bird punch, scraps of paper & left over paint chips. Oh, and a wooden skewer for odds & ends painting & texturing.}

{details}

{circle-cut piece of corrugated cardboard & painted it green for the tree*LOVE my plethera of MS glitter I got on SUPER clearance at Michaels*the trunk is cut from a paint chip}

{Bird punch is from Martha Stewart's collection. I LOVE IT!! Got it at Michaels on Christmas clearance*Brown vintage ribbon was part grossgrain, part velour. So I cut it in half* The paper behind the bird is left over from the roll of ribbon}

{Painted dried fern leaves for the 2008}

{This surprised me. I started by rubbing the minty green paper with my son's white crayon. It gave a nice texture. Until I started lettering with a marker. I thought it was going to be disasterous...but the marker dried fine and it left a cool texture*The scroll is copied from my favorite homemade Christmas card I received this year}

{I used scraps from a real birds nest a neighborhood kid gave my son this summer}

{I am excited to use up so many of the little things I have on hand! I am going to try to create everything with stuff I already own! So...any of you out there up for the challenge??? It could be ANY kind of journal, scrapbook, etc. using the key word for the week!}

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So, I know that everyone has a different "artistic" avenue.

I know my mom's is in the garden. Their yard is perfect and always plush and the landscaping & flowers look straight from a magazine! My dad's canvas started at the chalkboard. He is a master teacher and by the end of any given class his board could display Napolean's dynamic invasions with complete illustrations (the ever humble stick-man never looked better). And my husband, well, he is just a fabulous artist so everything he puts his hand to comes out phenomenal!

SO...I'D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOUR ARTISTIC AVENUE IS; AND WHAT INSPIRES YOU!!!????

{my 'weaknesses' are magazines & artistic blogs---tons of visual inspiration}

goodbye 2007!

WELL, I have SO much to catch up on from the end of 2007 that I am deciding to cheat a little bit. I'm posting just a couple pics here and will put the rest of our Christmas & New Years pictures over at good ol' Facebook.

Plus, you can't beat the 60 pics at a time upload. [hint...hint...to the blogging board]. I'll come back and post the link when they are up & running.

HOPE YOU ARE ALL HAVING A GREAT START TO 2008!!!

SNEAK PEAK...

Today Was Not Our Average Monday...

*We shipped the kiddos off to Gramma Jo's for the day.

*Spent WAY TOO MUCH at Home Depot.

*Painted & painted & painted the basement.

*Both John & I had dentist appointments.

*Went to Wesley's [a kid in our youth group] basketball game.

Called it a day...

**A year ago we came home to a basement filled with water. We are finally at the painting stage!!! YAY!!! Although there's still a lot to do till we can crash & enjoy, we are getting SO close (considering its been a whole year long without a basement!). And that means that ANYONE who wants to stop by at the Neiner B&B...just give us a holler!!!

Here's a sneak peak at some of the colors we have picked for our basement. The rest to be revealed in due time.

so many to choose from. don't worry...these are not all going in one room!

my ever-faithful painting pants were able to see the light of day.

Was this really a good idea??? [ha.ha. actually we LOVE the orange!!]

Fun Family Times For Sure:

Jack waiting in the clapping position

GO WESLEY!!!

We are doing our silent scream. Of course...the silent part didn't last too long.

What you get when your 3+ year old asks you to take a picture of his hand.