My sweet Valentine

Hi all! How was your weekend? Our was WAY too busy but filled with lots of fun…so I can’t complain. In the midst of the craziness, I managed to snap a couple of pics of my Claire bear. She will be eight months old on the 19th! I can’t believe it. Time is truly flying by. It makes me a little sad, since she will be my last baby. (I think.)

So I’m trying to really appreciate these sweet days with her…

 

Grace and I just figured out our craft for Valentine’s cards so I’m excited to get to work on those tomorrow. They will involve lots of hearts, vintage papers and glitter. Gotta have glitter, right?

What are your plans for V-day?

xo,

 

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My little Muse

Hello there! I know I had promised to share with you the other photos that I took of Grace but it’s been a little crazy around here lately. An emotional 1st grader and a teething six month old has made life rather interesting to say the least! But, all is well and I finally have a quiet moment to see the shots that Grace helped art direct.

I gotta say, I couldn’t have been more proud, when I noticed that Grace was paying attention to the light and composing the idea for her portraits. She was very particular and wanted to see the shot before we went on to the next. Adjusting her hair or holding her feather a touch more to the right. I just love it when we can actively collaborate on a creative project together. It doesn’t happen much anymore, unfortunately. I hope that as little Claire gets less needy we can all spend more time being artistic.

Okay…here she is…

The next set, she wanted taken in front of her window because she thought the light was all “glowy”. Seated at her new writing desk she announced, “I am going to pretend that I’m about to write a poem with this feather pen, like they used to in the old days.”  Such a romantic already, like her momma. :)

Hope you enjoy these. On another note, I just signed up for the next online art course, by none other than the fabulous, Jeanne Oliver. Go here to check it out here.

Have a wonderful rest of the week.

xo,

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year friends! Hope you all enjoyed the holiday season. We had a very merry time with family and friends but now it’s time to switch gears and get back to work! To be honest, it’s always bittersweet for me. Taking down the Christmas decorations, the twinkling lights and all the pretty trimmings of the season makes me a touch sad. Mostly, I think, because my family leaves and heads back to Montana and the house seems drab after all that glitter and shine.

So, to quickly beat the blues, I decided to do a sisterly photo shoot of my girls today. We have been blessed with crisp, cold days full of bright sunshine (very odd for Portland this time of year) so I figured I better make the best of it. The piles of laundry sat waiting while, Claire, Grace and I played in the gorgeous light. Grace even got into the art direction. She would notice the light change and say “Quick mom, you are losing the light!” Too cute! She directed some shots that I took of her…which I will share with you tomorrow.

So here they are…my six year old and my six month old. Sisters and hopefully, one day, best friends.

How has your New Year so far? Any goals or aspirations you want to share? Me? I want to cook more, read more and exercise more!

Have a beautiful Thursday!

Much love to all!

xo,

P.S. For those of you who are wondering…I am using Photoshop to edit my photos in addition to Rad Lab. I’m in love with Rad Lab! :) It’s a bit of an investment but so worth it and you can try it out for free.

Winter Magic

Hi everyone! How was your Thanksgiving? Hope it was lovely. Our was wonderful and relaxing…a day of cooking, watching football and sipping wine. Such fun! Tomorrow our Christmas lights go up and I’m so excited. There is something so enchanting about all those twinkling lights! I do love this time of year! So when I got the chance to steal Grace away from the crowd for a little photo shoot, I couldn’t resist adding some Winter magic to each shot…

Now, let’s hope we get a little snow this winter, just enough to make everything pretty for a few days.

Do you have snow in your area right now?

Have a lovely weekend!

xo,

Big Sister Project : Door Hanger

Last week, I was putting the final touches in the nursery when I felt a little hand tugging my shirt. Grace looked up at me, wide-eyed and smiling,

“Mommy, I want to do something for Claire’s room too.”

“Of course you do. ” I replied. I grabbed her hand and slowly led her back downstairs to our studio. I had to think fast. I needed a project that she could handle, using the bits and pieces I had. Then it hit me, a door hanger!

We had done a collage project together back when I was taking the Creatively Made e-course with Jeanne Oliver and I still had some of those supplies. Perfect.

I grabbed one of my 4″ x 4″ canvases, matte medium, brushes, scissors and a stack of vintage papers. She got right to work covering the canvas with the medium and paper pieces. I dug through my scrapbook supplies and pulled embellishments and words that she could add on, plus a few baubles and 3D elements too. Gotta have a little bling! Right?

After she had completely collaged the canvas with the vintage paper, I helped her brush on some white paint and then gently rub it in with a cloth to unify and soften the background. Then I let her arrange the embellishments until we reached a design we both loved. Some glitter, ribbon and a few healthy dollops of hot glue and we were done! Grace had created a special gift for her sister’s room. She was beaming with pride and was anxious to go hang it on her door. Here is the result…

I think it turned out quite pretty and it goes perfectly with the room too! Good job Gracie! This is a super fun and easy project to do with your child. Let me know if you have any questions about the process.

xo,

May Flowers : Ranunculus

Hello there. How’s life been treating you? Despite the rain, we have had some lovely sunny weekends, one of which was Grace’s 6th birthday. It was a wonderful little family celebration and Grace had a blast.

Since the color pink was her first choice for party decor, I bought home bundles of ranunculus! One of my favorite flowers and a welcome guest at my table after a long gray winter! How can you not love all those ruffles?  To me, they are the next best thing to a peony, which by the way, are sprouting up in my garden! Can’t wait to see them!

After the party celebrations were over, I couldn’t help but do a little photo shoot with these wily blooms. Here are some May flowers for you…

I’m also in love with this beautiful vintage book – a recent find from one of my treasure hunting trips. Don’t you love pretty, old books?

Go treat yourself to a bouquet of fresh Spring flowers!

xo,