Hello 2013!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you a wonderful 2013!

Going Digital

There are times when I either can't get to my art supplies or just don't want to. When those times come around, I love being able to play around on my iPad. It's so convenient there is hardly any excuse not to make something.

Above is one of my first attempts at abstract on the iPad. I'm loving the ease of use and it really makes me want to create more.

Teacher's Gifts

Now that the school year is over, I can finally share what I made as part of the kids' presents to their teachers.


For my daughter's teacher, I made an "L" card to represent her last name. My daughter chose the color of the card while I doodled the rest and cleaned it up in photoshop.


The same was done for my son's teacher, except that it was a "K" for her last name.


Sadly, my son's teacher is moving states right after school is done. So as part of a group gift from several parents I made a set of sun cards to reminder her of our sunny city. It's really small, but within the swirl of the sun her first name is written over and over again. This was also started as a doodle with pen and paper and then finished in photoshop.

I'm hoping they liked it as much as I loved making them. Additional little goodies were added as gifts, but I always love including something handmade.

School's Out

The above was done with micron pens and then finished in Photoshop.

As of yesterday, the kids are out of school for the summer . . . and the craziness has already begun!

Come back on Friday when I'll share what I made for each of my kids teachers!

IF: Equipment

The other day I was listening to my son make a bunch of sound effects as if he was in the middle of a battle. He continued those sound effects for about twenty minutes. When the battle sounded like it was coming to a close, he got up, walked away, and came right back. The battle continued for ten more minutes. When it finally ended, only then was I allowed to see what he was doing.

Six drawings laid out on the floor with a mix and match of things he was battling and coming across. Scribbles were drawn over the bad guys as each one was defeated during his battle. Most were done with pencil. His last couple of pages were when he had grown bored and decided to grab some colored markers.

The interactive imagination of a child always amazes me. The only equipment my son needed was paper and a pencil before he went off into a fantastic world to defeat the bad guys.

Life is . . .

crazy and exciting right now. But the parts I love the most are those quiet moments, enjoying the simplicity and beauty the things around me. With the school year about to start, things are going to be a bit more hectic! So for now, here is a little breather:

Above is another photo I took and altered based off of one of Jessica Sprague's photo editing classes.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Transitions

As you may know, I just recently moved into a new home. It was perfect timing as things are beginning to transition into a new stage of my life. During my blog hiatus there was the move plus my daughter and myself turned another year older. It was a time for reflection and anticipation. There is so much to work on right now and look forward to in the near future.

As things are starting to settle down and resemble some sort of a routine, I have been trying to refocus my goals and figure out what is important to me. Things I have not worked on in a long time have been slowly coming back into my life, while more recent activities seem to be moving to the back burner for now. Whatever the case, creativity is still a top priority in my life and I hope to be able to share it with you.

One thing I recently finished is a class that was held over a month ago, though I was just now able to view the class and try the lessons out. Here is the outcome of one of the lessons:

These photos were actually taken from my birthday last year, but were pushed aside like many photos of late.

Thanks for sticking around! And to the new visitors - welcome! It's time to get moving and create!

Time

There never seems to be enough time in the day! I don't even know where my long weekend went and what I did with it. Or is it that I'm just getting senile?

I'm still hoping to share some of my 52Q ATCs that I am making, but haven't had the time to finish any up. Hopefully, later this week I'll have a couple done.

One thing that I have been working on, is teaching my kids how to read time using a clock face. Rather than go out and purchase one, I decided to whip one up using photoshop. It would be a shame to put all this work into it and not share.


So, if you happen to also be teaching your kids time or for some reason would like to have a clock face. Feel free to download and print this out.*

I would suggest printing it out on cardstock rather than thin printer paper to make it a little more durable. Just cut out the arrows, stick a brad through them and the dot in the middle of the clock and you're set!

I'm still in the middle of playing catch-up (though I think I'm about to be buried in a mountain of laundry), so that's it for now!

*This is for personal use only. Please do not sell or redistribute. You are welcome to share by linking directly to this blog. Thanks!

Day By Day

Resolutions, goals . . . whatever you want to call them. I tend to not make them during the new year because I generally find myself not following them. This year I have a few goals in mind, but I took a different approach. I chose things that I have already been doing but building upon them. My main one:


Do something creative every day. Last year, I slowly grew into the habit. First it started out here and there but in recent months I've made an effort to do something at least once every few days. So for the new year, I know I won't have the time to do something every day . . . but I'm so close, I can't say that I won't try.

And in that same light, if you are unfamiliar with Ali Edwards, each year she chooses one little word to help her focus. So my one little word for 2009 is:


Focus. I have so many interests that keep me going, that sometimes I can't decide what to do. I end up freezing and not doing anything at all. This year I choose focus to keep my list of activities narrowed down and can concentrate on just them. I can't just say only one activity because that would bore me, but having a few choices I can avoid boredom but still keep. . . you guessed it. . . focused.

So hello 2009, I'm ready to take you on day by day.